Danganronpa: The Skinner Box (SYOC CLOSED!)
by KiibouMon
Summary: Shipping Ultimates to sea and beyond will bring nothing but misfortune and horror. A class of poor Ultimates will be trapped in the middle of the sea, having no one but themselves to survive in this deranged killing game. (SYOC CLOSED!)
1. SYOC Submission Form

Darkness. It wasn't complete darkness, but it wasn't completely bright either. There was a small lightbulb hanging above the middle of the worndown room. It was a dusty, old room. It was basically one of those rooms that would set the setting to a cheesy horror film. Cheesy, I can assure you that.

Nevermind that the temperature was unusually cold. I couldn't help but shiver despite wearing my one and only favorite lavender overcoat. I noticed that my fingers were numb and cold, callouses mixed in with the dust. Hm, that was most likely because of how dirty the ground was. I didn't even know how long I have been asleep until I realized my entire body was stiff, tired.

Despite everything, I was still confused. I didn't know where I was. Where am I? I didn't know. I could only blink a couple of times in a pretty form of confusion as I realized someone was watching me.

It was a teenage boy around the same age as me. He was staring at me, his expression indifferent. He didn't care about my situation at all.

"Have you ever heard of autophobia?"

I was silent. I couldn't do anything but tilt my head in bewilderment.

"It's the fear of isolation. There are many names to autophobia, such as monophobia, isolophobia, eremophobia-"

"E-excuse me, but why are you telling me this? Who are you anyways and where are we?"

The teenager stopped in his tracks. He thought for a moment, humming. He then let out an "ah" and pointed a finger up. "I'm the same as you. A lost wanderer."

I could not understand this boy at all. "What?"

"I have no idea where we are, and I'm just as lost as you are." The teenager sighed. He didn't care at all. He wasn't worried about the fact we were strangely in some room without any doors or windows. "We're stuck here, together. We're trapped here for who knows how long."

"Okaaaay then..." My mind instantly circled around one thought- _this boy was weird as hell._ I slowly got to my feet and eyed the room. It was much more cramped than I thought. It was the size of a very small room from a Japanese apartment. "Um, have you found anything we could use to get out of here?"

The teenager shook his head. "Nope. I just woke up a few minutes ago. Besides, it's completely empty in this room. You think I haven't looked around?"

"Yeah, fair point." I couldn't help but eye him strangely. "Um, can I ask for your name?"

The teenager did not listen, crossing his arms. "Names are not as important as getting out of here. I fear isolation as much as you."

"... I'm Katsumi Himura, how about you?"

The teenager was silent for a few seconds. He was eyeing me in that one word I knew too well- disgust. "I'm Tatsuo Akiyama, however I suppose you may know me better as 'Ryuu'."

I questioned the name for a moment. "Oh, right. Your name means dragon man, and Ryuu is dragon..." I then stopped, a sudden realization flickering over my head. "Wait, you mean you're _the_ Ryuu? The film critic guy?"

"Ultimate Film Critic? Yeah, that's me." Tatsuo shook his head however. He waved off my words with a disappointed sigh. "I rather we speak as strangers and not as superior and inferior."

I frowned. "Hey, I'm an Ultimate too."

Tatsuo's attention was grabbed. He eyed me in fascination. "Really?"

"I'm not surprised you wouldn't know. No one cares about sketches these days..." I sighed to myself. "Anyways, I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist, if you really needed to know. Nice to meet you."

"Sketch artist. Interesting." Tatsuo cupped his chin, now ignoring the questionable look I threw at him. "Two Ultimates trapped in one square box. What an interesting story. I wonder if this will make a good movie one day..."

"Um, hey?" I snapped my fingers. "I know you're a critic and all that, but I really don't care about movie ideas. Can we just find a way out of here? I _do not_ want to be trapped in some weird horror room. I don't want a case of 'Ultimates in a Box' horror flick."

"Ah, right. That does sound like a cheesy idea if I think harder about it. The ideas surrounding such an idea would be such a cliche. Many horror films nowadays seem to center around-"

" _Heeeey,_ can we just figure out a way out of here?"

Tatsuo stopped. "Ah, yes, a way to escape from such a cheesy setting. Hm, if movies have thought me something, there would be a secret passageway somewhere."

"Okay, we're not in a movie." I laughed mockingly. I took a look at the lightbulb from the ceiling, moving over to the string which would turn on and off the light. I held onto the string and turned to the film critic. "It's not like we're gonna escape once I pull this down, right-"

The ground underneath began to grumble.

I stopped, eyes widened. " _Oh._ " I took a look at Tatsuo who was caught off-guard, his attention now focused on me. "Guess I found the way out."

Tatsuo clapped his hands together. "Ah, yes. This sort of ploy is overused in many films."

I couldn't care less about the teenager's words of criticism and praise. I only focused on the ground which continued to rumble beneath me, cracks beginning to form as I shuffled to the corner. Cracks began to enlarge and spread until finally the ground broke into two, the concrete falling into a dark abyss as I realized what was going to happen.

 _Are we gonna die?_

I looked to Tatsuo who didn't care in the slightest, only criticizing the 'cheesiness' of the scene. I wanted to yell at him to move, but I couldn't as the ground beneath me crumbled, throwing me down into the dark abyss with Tatsuo falling suit.

I screamed down the darkness. How long will this darkness take me till I die?

I didn't even know as I continued to fall.

* * *

 **Hello! This is my first ever Danganronpa syoc story, and I hope I'll be able to impress all of you with what I have in store! I have my friend helping me out with my story! Anyways, she's helping me a lot and encouraged me to try my own fic! I have a basic idea of where I want this story to go, so I hope you guys will help and submit characters to me :)**

 **Here is a little bit of info about the story I am planning!**

 **... This story takes place in an alternate universe! The setting will take place in a ship which will sail our characters infinitely to their own demise, and it is the duty of our cast to figure out who is behind the ship sailing and stop our quote-on-quote "mastermind" from sailing them to their demise! However, to escape demise they are forced to kill one another and participate in what we know as a "class trial".**

 **I am hoping that the premise is enough to intruige you, and I am making the idea vague on purpose because I do have alot I plan for the future for this! Anyways, theme wise, the premise is nothing more than what we know as "conditioning". Have you guys ever heard of the Skinner Box? Well, that's a preview of what I have planned.**

* * *

 **Anyways! Here are the rules!**

 **1\. I don't mind people who reuse talents that were in the Danganronpa franchise. Ultimate Hope, Ultimate Depsair... I don't mind any of the talents! I just want all of the characters to be unique. I really want to have a fleshed out roster, and although talents are apart of that, personality matters most!**

 **2\. However, like everyone, Mary Sues and Gary Sues are not accepted. People are not perfect, and neither should characters be as well.**

 **3\. I would say you're allowed to send up to three characters! I want to accept characters from as many people as possible, however if there aren't many submissions from different people I will accept more than one character from the same person if needed.**

 **4\. Please submit your forms through PM! I will not accept any submissions from reviews!**

 **5\. Ask me any questions please! I like to help others out and if you have any questions I will happily answer them! Also, please have fun with this!**

 **I would want to make my deadline around sometime early in February, however if I feel like there are enough good characters I will state so and close the submissions! However, the deadline is most likely going to be around February.**

* * *

 **Submitted Talents:**

x1 Sketch Artist

x1 Film Critic

x1 Magical Girl

x1 DJ

x1 Art Historian

x1 Historical Swordsman

x1 Thief

X2 Lucky Student

x1 Boxer

x1 Seamstress

x1 Electric Guitarist

x1 Mathematician

x1 Pixel Artist

x1 Pilot

x1 Historian

x1 Fencer

x1 Swimsuit Model

x1 Dog

x1 Pixel Artist

x1 Mythologist

x1 Christmas Caroler

x1 Attorney

x1 Assassin

x1 Parasychologist

x1 ?

x1 Producer

x1 Matchmaker

x1 Blogger

x1 Medical Patient

* * *

 **Submitted Genders:**

x13 Males

x16 Females

* * *

 **Males:**

 **1\. Tatsuo Akiyama - Ultimate Film Critic (My Friend)**

 **2.**

 **3.**

 **4.**

 **5.**

 **6.**

 **7.**

 **8.**

 **Females:**

 **1\. Katsumi Himura - Ultimate Sketch Artist (Mine)**

 **2.**

 **3.**

 **4.**

 **5.**

 **6.  
**

 **7.**

 **8.**

* * *

 **Submission Form:**

 ** _General_**

Name:

Alias:

Age: (Please make them around 15-18!)

Birthday:

Gender:

Sexuality:

Talent:

Backstory: (Please, make this one of the most detailed of the for, if not the most! I would like to know how your character has been brought up by their family. Are they rich or poor? Are they a single child? Do they have only one parent? How did they get their talent? State everything here!)

 ** _Physical_**

Height:

Weight:

Physical Appearance: (Please make this one of the most detailed! I want to know about their skin complexion, their body shape, their possible birthmarks, moles, etc. Not everyone has to look perfect and not everyone has to be thin!)

Daily Clothing: (This is basically what they are going to wear throughout the entire story.)

Sleep Wear: (This is what they would wear when they go to sleep.)

 ** _Personality_**

Outdoor Personality: (This is basically how your character acts on the outside towards people. Obviously, everyone puts on a mask, whether slightly or not. State everything here!)

Indoor Personality: (This is basically how your character really acts. Are they much more meaner than they show themselves? Are they actually really shy and timid? State everything here!)

First Impressions: (How does your character look like to others? Do they present themselves as the spoiled type? Appearances does work in first impressions as well! People do tend to base others off of appearances and expression!)

Mannerisms: (Is there anything they are prone to doing?)

Pet Peeves: (Do they have some pet peeves that they can't stand? If so, please state them here!)

Speech/Voice: (How does your character sound like? How do they speak?)

Quotes:

Attitude Towards Life: (What do they feel about life itself as a whole? Is it a waste of time to live, or different?)

Attitude Towards Death: (What do they feel about death? What do they feel about suicide, killings, etc.?)

Likes: (At least three.)

Dislikes: (At least three!)

Hobbies: (Give me at least three.)

Romance: (If they are open to romance, please state so and who they would be romantically interested in!)

People They Like:

People They Hate:

 _ **During Story**_

Reaction to Killing Game:

Reaction to Body Announcement/Seeing Corpse:

Reaction to Execution/Being Executed:

Reaction to Being Accused (Innocent):

Reaction to Being Accused (Guilty):

Role in Investigation:

Role in Class Trials:

Justification for Survivor:

Justification for Murderer:

Justification for Victim:

Justification for Mastermind: (Please tell me why your character could potentially become a mastermind, and also give me a possible reason why they shouldn't. I want everyone to provide me at least one reason why your character could be a mastermind!)

Free Time Event Ideas:

Character Arc Ideas:

Possible Execution Ideas: (This is one of the only ones you don't need to fill. It would help me though!)

 ** _Extra_**

Anything I Missed: (If I missed anything, state so here!)


	2. Roster List

And here we have the final cast! Hoo boy was this actually hard to fill up! It was really hard to decide that it even caused my head to hurt. That's just how good a lot of the submissions were. Anyways, I hope you like the cast of characters here! If you notice that there are more females than males, don't worry, an idea is in my head... Anyways, so who do you like so far in the cast? Who catches your eye the most? Who do you think will be the mastermind, survivors, murderers, etc.? Feel free to comment!

Also, as a fair warning in the future, this story might bump up into a mature rating since I do have some sort of...well, gruesome things planned. Well, fear not! I just hope you will like the cast and what I have planned!

* * *

 **Males**

 **1\. Tatsuo Akiyama - Ultimate Film Critic (My Friend)**

 **2\. Rekishi Hakubutsu - Ultimate Art Historian (liammarklh88)**

 **3\. Akahoshi Tashiaki - Ultimate Boxer (Radio L)**

 **4\. Victor Aimoto - Ultimate Thief (FairyBookworm)**

 **5\. Nakaatsu Miyake - Ultimate Mythologist (1Glimmershine)**

 **6\. X6 "Rokuro" - Ultimate Dog (aWasTooShort)**

 **7\. Mamoru Katayama - Ultimate Attorney (CyrazelTheRadWizard)**

 **8\. Shinsuke Akiyama - Ultimate Mathematician (Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera)**

 **Females:**

 **1\. Katsumi Himura - Ultimate Sketch Artist (Mine)**

 **2\. Naosu Kurushimi - Ultimate Medical Patient (Sparkquill)**

 **3\. Rei Miyazaki - Ultimate Historical Swordsman (PlayedAsWritten)**

 **4\. Airi Hisakawa - Ultimate Matchmaker (DryBonesKing)**

 **5\. Elise Watanabe - Ultimate Fencer (Alpahaca)**

 **6\. Akari Yumi - Ultimate Parapsychologist (Fluffytail15)**

 **7\. Amari Ichido - Ultimate ? (Agrael)**

 **8\. Kanon Miyamoto - Ultimate Assassin (mpjindustries)**

 **9\. Mizuki Yuuki - Ultimate Blogger (TheRoseShadow21)**


	3. Character Introductions

**Thank you for all the submissions again! I am excited to write this story out, and I hope you guys are excited to get to know the cast! Alright, let's start off with the story! I will be reviewing your...well, reviews (lol) at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

My name is Katsumi Himura, and I am the Ultimate Sketch Artist.

Yes, I am nothing more than someone who loves to sketch. To draw the most basic of objects. From a piece of paper to a pencil, drawing everyday objects interests me. To draw humans to animals to even robots, drawing such things interests me. Basically, anything that exists in this world interests the instinct of my drawing hand very much. I love to sketch things out.

However, the only thing I hate sketching would be myself.

Yes, I despise drawing self-portraits of myself. No matter how well I drew, no matter how efficient, I was always incomplete. I damned myself every night and day about how I could never draw a version of myself that I was satisfied with. Why can't I draw myself fully? Where were my flaws that were not present in the sketch? Where were the emotions that I would usually put into my drawings? I can never draw myself perfectly.

Alright, I'm going to set those thoughts aside and officially introduce myself.

As you already know, I am the Ultimate Sketch Artist, Katsumi Himura. I am nothing more than a seventeen year old high-schooler who loves the basic things. I like makeup. I like anime. I like drawing. I'm the most basic high-schooler you could ever meet. Hell, I even support the stereotypes of what a stupid teenager would hate. I hate work. I hate school. I hate thinking.

Yeah, that's me right there. A stupid high-schooler.

I mean, sure, I have the title "Ultimate Sketch Artist", but so what?

I'm a maniac who just like to sketch things. Everyday I would sketch, ignoring my schoolwork and chores until I was forced to pull all-nighters. I drew and sold them to my friends, and somehow it escalated to politicians and kings. I didn't even know my sketches were that excellent in all honesty. Drawing is just a hobby of mine. Sure, I do paint and draw on tablets, but sketching is my utmost favorite type of drawing.

I could ramble on and on about drawing, but I won't. I'm considered a sketching maniac for a reason, after all.

Alright, let me talk about a school known throughout history- Hope's Peak Academy.

This school scouts students of exceptional talent. I was one of the people scouted. There are many different types of "Hope's Peak Academy" throughout the world such as those in the United States and the one in Thailand, but there is one goal in mind for these different types of Hope's Peak Academy. That, well, is for the school to scout these students and nurture them into becoming exceptional people who would revolutionize the world.

So, basically, yeah, Hope's Peak Academy is renowned throughout the world as the best school for teenagers my age. Only the best of the best would be scouted and applications were a no-go. Damn, I was surprised when I was scouted. I know that I'm a great sketch artist, but for my talent to be able to revolutionize the world? That was crazy to even think about. How does my talent compare to others such as the Ultimate Psychologist and Ultimate Linguist? I never found an answer to that.

Well, anyways, Hope's Peak Academy was built decades ago around the 1900s. Apparently a politician wanted to nurture teenagers as quickly as possible into success, and after realizing there were kids with exceptional talent in some field or category, he had created this school in hopes to build these kids into prosperity.

As someone who came from the academy, I can safely say that I have no idea what they want from me.

I take normal classes. I walk my everyday life. Sure, I do have a schedule based on my talent, such as taking "Art 101" and "Art Philosophy 101", but other than that, what else? I'm just learning how to be a professional at sketching, that's all. How does this shape me into a world-changing person?

Besides, I've always been a bit wary about the academy. What if someone had a talent, but they wanted to grow up and be something else? What if I was a great sketch artist, but I wanted to become a doctor? I wanted to protest against this, but I could only glue my mouth shut. I did not want to be sued and thrown in jail for being a "protestor".

I cannot help but feel like Hope's Peak was just trying to condition us to become rats who can only live for our own talent.

Well, I can't say the same to _all_ of the various Hope's Peak. I'm only from the Japanese Hope's Peak, so what's it to say that Sacramento's Hope's Peak or London's Hope's Peak was the same?

I'm not that judgmental and rude, I assure you. I just couldn't help but ramble on and on about this. You are someone important to me in some way, so I just had to tell you a bit about myself. I am the protagonist, after all.

My story is just beginning the same time as your's.

* * *

So, where had this story left us off before?

Ah, right. I remember being in a room with some strange guy and falling down a hole.

My eyes were closed. I was tired. Even with the tiredness, I was also aching. I had no idea what had happened to me. I slowly opened my eyes, my vision blurry for a while until a few seconds passed. I could faintly hear the sounds of groaning. Various groans coming from various voices. Since my vision was now clear, I moved my head up and tried to access my surroundings.

Another dark room aside from a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. However, unlike previously, there was a iron door to the back of my head and the room was much more spacious.

... Well, not entirely spacious. Other than me were about sixteen others around me, awake and alert. I noticed that some of the teenagers had recently woke up like me, groaning and rubbing their eyes. There were other teenagers who had been standing already, however strangely I realized we were inside of a huge cage. The teenagers who were standing were banging on the metal bars, cursing and yelling out of shock and fear.

 _What the hell._ I could see Tatsuo right besides me, murmuring to himself. I didn't know what to do. _Who are they? Where are we? Why are we trapped here?_

"Hey, Tatsuo," I whispered, trying to catch the film critic's attention. I had no idea why I was whispering, though I concluded that it was because I was just as scared as the other teenagers were. "Where the hell are we?"

Tatsuo noticed me unusually fast. I would've expected him to ignore me. "I honestly do not know. I can only conclude we are trapped within some horror setting." _Oh god._ "I would suggest we are trapped within some basement or cave. Maybe we're in some abandoned building where human experiments take place? That is common in horror films, after all."

"Oh god, no. You're gonna jinx us." I quickly threw a hand over the critic's mouth, the boy crying out in shock. I took a look around. People were worried, whispering and bickering amongst themselves. They tried to make out the situation, most particulary the metal cage which locked us in. My throat was dry. _What's gonna happen to us?_

I released my hand from Tatsuo, now wondering what to do. I could hear the film critic yell at me for my actions, but I didn't care. I only focused on what was happening, and that my body was shaking. _Shit. We aren't gonna be experimented on or some shit. Just calm yourself, Katsumi._

"Hey," I began, reaching to the first person available other than that person named Tatsuo. I didn't even realize I had touched that person's shoulder until after I spoke. "Do you know what's happening?"

"Ah, pleasure to meet you." It was another boy, however he was taller than Tatsuo and I. I noticed that the boy had a bit of a handsome-sounding voice.

"O-oh!" I quickly moved my hand aside. "I'm sorry for grabbing you like that."

"It's fine!" The boy chuckled. "My name is Rekishi Hakubutsu, and I am the Ultimate Art Historian. How do you do?"

My eyes widened. There was another Ultimate other than me and Tatsuo. I wondered if everyone trapped in this cage were all Ultimates. "I'm Katsumi Himura, the Ultimate Sketch Artist. By any chance, do you know where are we?"

Rekishi shook his head. "Unfortunately not. I have woken up recently past some of the people here."

"Really?" I cursed underneath my lips. I should've known. "Okay then. Thanks though. You're awesome."

Rekishi smiled sweetly towards my way. "Of course."

I smiled back at him. Rekishi definitely seemed like a nice person, however what I cared most about was this whole shit. Tatsuo did not make it easy for me to calm myself, him always having some sort of ploy to say. Cliches, tropes, and the like. I couldn't care less about how 'cheesy' this setting was.

I made my way to the end of the cage, grabbing ahold of the metal bars. I tried to pry them open, but alas, it was no use. I should've known considering how weak I am. I continued to push, however, then letting a cry out. "Hey! Is anyone there?! Help!"

Nothing. I should've expected it. Everyone else had been screaming, so why should I expect anything more?

 _This is just stupid._ I let go of the bars, now worriedly staring afar. _Who the fuck would actually round us Ultimates up? And how? What the fuck._

I wondered if I was dreaming. I must've been drugged, and now I was dreaming some insane, realistic dream. I can't make sense of this. I wondered if Tatsuo was right. We were in some horror flick. Despite it being as stupid as ever, I can't help but want to persuade myself.

However, my thoughts had been eradictated complete as the lights shut down.

"What the hell?!" My heart jumped. I was scared. "Why did the lights-?!"

Everyone else had the same reaction. Screams and shock escaped the room as I tried to make sense of this whole situation. The lights were off, yet in a whole second did a high-pitched, feminine voice surround the room.

"Welcome, welcome~ I am glad you Ultimates are all alive and well."

My head was aching. _Who the fuck is talking to us?_

"Please do not fret, Ultimates. I am not here to hurt you."

 _Jesus Christ, no, seriously, who's fucking talking to us?_

The high-pitched, feminine voice continued to boom throughout the room. "Yes, I am the one who has brought you all to this room. Stop freaking out."

 _Oh shit, she's the one?! Where the hell is this bitch I'm gonna fight her!_

"Ultimates, Ultimates, calm yourselves. I want to explain this as quickly as possible, so if you don't shut your mouths then this can't work."

The voices began to simmer down until- yes, it was now complete silent.

Applause. Only a tiny, small noise of applause. "Thank you."

It was dead silent.

"Ultimates, I am sure you guys are all confused right now, but your questions will be answered soon."

Darkness continued to waver.

"My name is Rakuen, and I will be you guys' overseer. It is nice to finally meet you all."

 _Wait, what?_

Before I could make sense of the situation, the room started to glow. The lights were flickering. The lights flickered on and off for seconds until it was now silent, now completely on.

Silence.

"Wha..." I blinked a couple of times. "What?"

Tatsuo frowned, cupping his chin. "Hm, this is certainly strange."

"W-where's the person who was talking to us?" I said, suddenly confused. I looked around the room, looking inside of the cage. No, there was no one extra. I continued to look until I finally eyed the space outside of the cage, then finally noticing a strange thing. "I-is that...?"

It was a porcelain doll.

It wasn't at all a pretty doll. In fact, dolls always scared me. However, that was not the reason why I considered the doll ugly. What scared me was how unnatural the doll's smile was. The doll's eyes were also a horrendously blood red color which did not match her blonde hair at all. The doll was even wearing a black frilly dress and bright red shoes. Honestly, I didn't know who created this doll, but it was simply creepy.

"Why the hell is there a doll there?" I asked, eyeing Tatsuo who shrugged in return. "It's really damn creepy..."

"I am not creepy!"

"Holy shit." I was dumbfounded. I looked at the doll which was now standing on its own two feet, almost seeming to glare at me. I was stunned. _D-did the doll seriously just talk to me?_

"Hello Ultimates! It is I, Rakuen!"

 _... I wasn't going crazy. The doll really was talking._

"Welcome to the cruise trip!" The doll smiled our way. It was an uncanny smile, to say the least. A horrific, horrendous smile. "Hope you all didn't wait too long."

 _Cruise trip?_ I frowned. What part of this is considered a cruise trip? My head ached. I couldn't remember anything. I couldn't remember anything about a cruise trip-

Then it hit me. A sudden flash of memory.

* * *

I had finished my special classes, having just finalized my drawing for a final. It was nothing too special. It was simply a drawing of my friends posing with a simple black shaded background. It wasn't anything too special, but nonetheless it was a lovable drawing.

I headed outside after finishing my class, now remembering what would happen the next year. I would not be attending classes handled specifically for me, but I would be attending classes with alike peers. My "class", or whatnot.

I've never actually knew who was in my class, but simply put, it was the headmaster's objective. To put in students of the same year into a room and force them to get along with one another- I suppose that was his ulterior motive. I didn't have any problems with it, but, of course, I'd rather move around classes and see my friends.

I sighed. The last day of this year should call for some adventure, right? I walked down outside into the school garden, finding a few Ultimates there. Unsurprisingly, they were the more outdoor and floral type of Ultimates. I could name off the Ultimate Florist, Ultimate Gardener, etc. Basically, I only knew them since I always tend to see them around the garden and greenhouse.

"Kat!"

I groaned, turning around. I found my friend running towards me, an excited smile on her face. "I thought you wanted to hang out with your boyfriend instead."

My friend pouted. Her name was Reina Tateyama, and she was the Ultimate Fashion Designer. Of course, she was damn gorgeous. She always wore her makeup in such a subtle but blooming fashion that it made me jealous. I was even more envious of her beautiful snow-white dress that she tailored for herself.

Still, a gorgeous person was gorgeous. I can't complain. The reason why we even became friends was because of how extroverted Reina was. She was always the type to move around and talk to others, just about anyone. She was in my core classes, however being a designer she did took Sketching 101 in order to improve on her concept designs. Not too bad of an artist, if I had to say.

"Kat, aren't you sad? We might not even be in the same class next year." Reina sighed sadly as we walked down the school.

I frowned. "What a lovely topic to talk about." I crossed my arms and eyed Reina. "At least we're in the same year, right? There might be a chance, if not slim. Besides, we could always hang out during lunchtime or after school."

"But what if I end up in some class with some rude people?" Reina pouted.

I laughed. "Dude, you'll just turn them into angels. Don't you know yourself?"

"And don't you know yourself?" Reina groaned, shoving me aside playfully despite her lazy look. "You'll never get along with anyone with that snarky tongue of your's, let alone landing a partner."

I rolled my eyes. I was always lectured about this and that, but there was always one thing that I was insulted on the most- my tongue. I always had something snarky to say. No matter the time and place, being snarky and witty was something I was prone to do. I loved being sarcastic, however now that I thought more on it- people seemed to consider it a curse.

I didn't want another lecture, let alone from my friend. I grabbed ahold of her arms and began to drag her away. "Let's just go to the movies, Reina."

I didn't know how it ended up this way, but it did. I ended up hanging out with Reina on my last day of school. We watched a few movies together before deciding to eat out. It ended up with us walking to our houses, Reina waving goodbye as I walked into my house.

... Empty, like always. I didn't mind it though and simply eyeballed the mail that my dad most likely took out before heading to work. I listened silently for my mother, but she wasn't here either. I figured she had extended her time at her workplace. I tossed my bag aside and began to skim through the mail.

"Taxes, taxes, more taxes... Is it tax season or something?" I frowned. I had completely forgotten about life. Well, it didn't matter. I set the mail to the side before noticing one- one that was specifically mailed to me, Katsumi Himura. Frowning, I eyeballed the sender. It was Hope's Peak.

Did they send in my report card already? Are they trying to send me some sort of rejection letter? With those possibilities in my head, I opened up the mail.

To my surprise, the contents of the mail was simply a letter. A letter that was titled to me.

[Dear Katsumi Himura, congratulations! Your class, the 58th Class, have been chosen to attend a special field trip as part of your curriculum! The field trip will involve you and your classmates to attend a beautiful cruise trip around the world! Here is the date of the trip- XX/XX/XXXX!]

"Hm, that's it?" I frowned as I tried to look around the letter. No, there was nothing else. I wasn't even allowed a chance to reject the trip. Honestly, Hope's Peak Academy was begging me to go.

I couldn't do anything but wait for that day to come. It would be a few weeks till the trip came to be, so what better way than to wait? I will spend my break relaxing and drawing, after all, so I didn't mind.

The day came as quicker as ever. I had packed my bags and watched the city buildings roll by, my mother driving from the driver's seat. She talked to me happily about the trip and I nodded in return. I didn't want to speak about the trip. Honestly, I didn't want to go. I wanted to spend time thinking to myself and drawing. Yes, a drawing freak I was, but it was true. I'd rather draw than socialize.

Once we reached the destination, I kissed my mother goodbye as I gotten ahold of my things. I had been texted the location, and although suspiciously enough it seemed to be a few miles away from the seaside, I didn't bother. The building I was supposed to reside in wasn't at all some creepy warehouse or the like. I was moving towards a rather luxurious hotel, after all.

I rolled my bags inside, expecting to meet the rest of my peers. The doors closed automatically and even though the lights were on, there was no one in sight. I frowned. Was I late? I wondered to myself as I released my grip on my bags, now focusing on finding the others.

I saw no one in sight. I tried to move back outside, however it was closed permanently. My heart began to race and I quickly resorted to banging on the door. No, it was shut. I eyeballed the room. No, yet, there was nobody. This did not look like a prank either. I quickly took ahold of my cellphone and began to dial my mother, however there was no service.

"What?" I eyed my cellphone. There was no service anywhere, anyway. I wanted to throw my phone to the ground out of disgust, but I didn't. I was utterly flabbergasted. I was confused. What was happening? Why was this happening?

My thought resided to the thought that I would be trapped inside the hotel. I would've thought someone would've come by and helped me, but yet there wasn't a person to do that. It was silent. Dead silent.

I needed to escape. I tried to kick down the door, try to break the glass, but no, nothing. I resorted to screaming, screaming until the lights shut down.

"No way..." I was left unable to do anything but throw a fit. I wanted to cry and bang onto the door. I wanted to scream for help and call for someone, just about anyone, to save me. I couldn't even notice that gas had been spread throughout the room, and then it was too late before I fell unconscious. I had breathed into the gas as I screamed and cried, and it didn't take long before the nightmare of unconsciousness took over me.

* * *

My eyes widened instantly. "Y-you were the one who did all this?!"

Everyone always seemed to have understood what I meant. They seemed to have experienced the same thing I did, all of them yelling and screaming bloody murder at Rakuen. The doll didn't mind at all, instead smiling happily at our disgrace. She held her hands to her hips and laughed. "Yes, my Ultimates! It was I who have planned your kidnapping. Isn't that great?"

"Let us out!" I heard one of the boys yell from the corner, hands tightly gripping onto the bars.

Rakuen shook her head, pouting. "Nuh-uh! Of course not. You Ultimates are my guinea pigs."

"G-guinea pigs?" My eyes widened. Those two words definitely meant trouble. "W-what the hell are you planning to do to us?!"

The doll giggled menacingly. "Nothing special. I just want to make you Ultimates learn the meaning of what being human really is. I want you all to learn how the world around us feels."

I could not believe what I was hearing. "What?"

"Have you Ultimates ever heard of conditioning? I'm sure you've learned the theory of Pavlov. The theory of operant conditioning as well, correct?"

I frowned. How could I not remember such a concept? Those concepts have been grinded into my head ever since Hope's Peak forced me to take psychology classes. "Pavlov's dog, huh...? Reinforcements...punishments..." I frowned, glaring at the doll. I had a hunch on what she was planning. A horrible, horrible hunch. "Why are you doing this to us? Why condition us to do whatever shit you're trying to pull?"

Rakuen clapped her hands together. "Oh, so you do know those concepts. That's wonderful. This'll make explaining things easier."

I was silent. I did not want to amuse this overlord at the moment.

"Ultimates are the foundation of this world, or so history tells us." Rakuen placed her hands behind her back, walking around the cage. "Ultimates must meet the expectations of others. They are considered to be the _perfect_ human beings of this world, after all. These Ultimates must be conditioned into perfection. And, so, that's where I would come in."

"What?" I frowned. "I fucking doubt Hope's Peak would pull some shit like this."

Rakuen laughed. "No, no, I'm not working under that school. I'm doing this of my own accord. I'm just obsessed over the idea of Ultimates, and to see these so-called Ultimates being _imperfect_ pains me. I am here to condition you guys into perfection. Through many different experiments, I am hoping I will be able to bring forth the best of the best of this class. This is the class that'll graduate soon, right?"

One of the girls scoffed. "There's like so much more other classes though."

"Well, that doesn't matter much. This class is one out of many which are graduating this year." The doll hummed to herself. "My point still stands, doesn't it? To bring you Ultimates into prosperity is my goal."

"You're gonna do this by treating us like fucking rats?" I could not believe what I was hearing. I didn't even realize I was growling at the doll, my hands tightly gripping onto the metal bars. "Fuck you! Get us out of here."

Rakuen frowned. "Of course that is impossible. I need to bring the best of the best of you Ultimates, and allowing you all to roam freely in the world with how imperfect you are is a sin."

I shuddered. Her voice was so perky, so high-pitched. Her voice fitted that of a child's, and it was frightening to even imagine a cute toddler saying such words. "What... Just what are you planning to do? How are you going to _condition_ us into becoming perfect?"

The doll smiled sweetly, putting her hands to her cheeks. "Simply put, through experimentation. I want to figure out which of you guys are the best of the best of this class, and so to put it most bluntly... I want to condition you all into perfection and have the imperfect be killed."

"What?" I was silent.

Tatsuo was the one to speak instead, him lifting a finger up. "To word you in a simple sentence- you want us to kill each other. A death game where only the best will survive and the others will die."

A scream escaped the room. "Y-you want us to battle to the death?!"

"No, not per se. I consider that to be a failure if it were to occur." Rakuen shook her head, sighing underneath her breath. "I am hoping to experiment you Ultimates into either two spectrums- those two being prosperity and failure. Failure would mean the murder of you. Not just death, but to kill as well. I want to know how you Ultimates will handle the situations placed in front of you, after all. I would believe that a trial-like scenario would work wonders into my research. To see who falls into the title of failure and who will prosper to the top... I am hoping I will meet fine results."

"So you do want us to kill each other..." I bit into my lips. "That's impossible. We don't even know each other, and you expect us to just happily accept your shit and kill each other? Fuck, that's stupid."

Rakuen shook her head, chuckling. Giggling. "You may think such, but I have my ways. First of all, you Ultimates are stuck inside of that cage unless I allow you out. Wouldn't it do you good to apologize right now?"

"What?" I clicked my tongue. Rakuen was definitely mocking me. She was smirking towards my way. "You bastard."

Rakuen smiled back instead. "Interesting. So you won't apologize. Well, that's fine! I wanted to release you Ultimates in a different way, after all." She twirled in her dress, stopping in front of the door. She stared at the group with a childish gaze. "Let's start this project out with a simple experiment! In order for you Ultimates to escape this room, you must introduce yourselves to one another!"

I was stunned. Rakuen was speaking genuinely. She was not at all pulling our legs. She was genuine. I couldn't help but bite into my lips, disgusted. _She...she's fucking trying to condition us._

Rakuen had noticed my expression, her lips curving into a smile with that of mischievous glee. "What's wrong? Would you rather stay there then?"

I scoffed. "The fucking moment we do this shit and get out, you're gonna try to fuck us first thing, right? Why should I listen to you and allow you to watch over us like we're your lab rats? I'm not gonna listen to you, nor am I gonna start this stupid _killing_ shit."

"Are you sure you're fine with that?" Rakuen tilted her head. "To be stuck there without food, water, light, anything... Are you sure you're fine with that? Or, rather, would your classmates be fine with that?"

I frowned before realizing that, no, I already knew that my classmates would not agree with me. I could feel their worried gazes upon me, and I almost wanted to choke. I turned to Tatsuo who eyed me strangely, the film critic sighing. "I think it would be best for us to obey Rakuen for now, Katsumi."

"Tatsuo..." I bit into my lips, shaking my head. I hated to admit loss, but I had no choice. I would rather not drag the others down with my stubborn personality. I looked at Rakuen who was pleased by such results, clapping her hands.

"Nice! Now that we have settled things, please introduce yourselves. Remember, you guys are all Ultimates, so I expect you all to be mature and friendly with one another. You are all classmates, after all."

Rakuen now sat down on her lap, now watching us from afar.

 _What the fuck..._ I cursed under my lips, looking around the room. Although awkward and tense, the Ultimates began to move and speak, introducing themselves. I sighed and began to look around, then eyeballing Tatsuo. I didn't have anyone else to talk to in sight, and since Tatsuo was not occupied at the moment, I strided over to his side.

"Um, so, like, hi." I had already met Tatsuo, but nonetheless it was an awkward introduction. "Katsumi Himura, Ultimate Sketch Artist. You already knew that though."

Tatsuo hummed, acknowledging my words. "And I'm Tatsuo Akiyama, the Ultimate Film Critic."

* * *

 **Ultimate Film Critic - Tatsuo Akiyama**

* * *

I couldn't help but sigh, awkwardly smiling towards his way. I decided that since I was introducing myself to the others that I should at least observe them. I was now staring at the film critic, eyeing his body and facial features. _Okay, I'm totally not creeping him out, right?_

Tatsuo Akiyama, the Ultimate Film Critic. He stood at a reasonably tall height for a teenage boy, standing at around five feet and nine inches. He had fluffy white hair with bangs swaying to the right, hanging just above his thin eyebrows and hair being just below his ears. He stood at a slender build, having long legs and frail structure. His eyes were a strangely alluring honey color, his nose small and lips thin. Tatsuo was wearing a white plaid long-sleeved shirt with a black tie around his neck, over a black checkered coat. On the bottom the boy was wearing black jeans, brown leather boots at the bottom. There was a silver necklace around his neck, the pendant stating "I Love Movies". He even had a silver wristwatch on his left wrist and a silver ring on his right index finger.

Strangely fashionable, I can assure you that. In comparison to him, I was nothing more than a plain girl with dark brown hair that reached down to my breasts, bangs having been clipped with a red hairpin. I had icy blue eyes and a round face with small lips and a tiny nose, tiny body, tiny feet, tiny hands, tiny...tiny everything. I stood at a short height, even for a girl, I was about only five feet tall. I was wearing a simple purple lavender overcoat that was over a white shirt, my black skirt reaching down to my knees. I was wearing a lighter shade of black tights, on the bottom wearing brown flats. I was wearing a golden bracelet that Reina had gave me, but other than that, that was all. Yes, simply put, I was nothing more than a simple girl. Nothing special.

After I had stared at Tatsuo long enough, the film critic had been called over to the next person. I sighed and began to look around, then noticing one of the girls was at the corner. I frowned before making my way over. I was just about to welcome her into my personal life until she began to panic, eyes widened in fear and her lips instantly quivering.

"Uuu! D-d-don't come any closer!"

I stopped, my heart suddenly breaking into pieces. _What? Did I do something wrong?_ I stopped in my tracks however, standing a few feet away from the crying girl. I awkwardly scratched my head, wondering what to do before coughing. "A-ahem, I'm, uh, the Ultimate Sketch Artist, Katsumi Himura." I took a glimpse at the girl. I did not know if she was listening, nor if she cared. "What about you?"

The girl continued to weep and tremble. "I... I... I'm K-K-Kanon Miyamoto..."

I nodded to myself, having barely heard her. "Um, and what about your talent?"

"Uuu! Forgive me!"

The girl bowed her head down repeatedly, tears flowing from her eyes. Honestly, I could not keep up with her at all. "I-I'm not mad at you!" I began, almost desperate to escape the situation. "I-I won't be mad!"

"Uu..." The girl shook her head. "I-I... I'm... Ultimate Assassin..."

* * *

 **Ultimate Assassin - Kanon Miyamoto**

* * *

"Huh?"

"Uuu! Forgive me! FORGIVE ME!"

"N-no, I'm not mad!" I quickly threw my hands up, inwardly screaming inside of my head for someone to help me. "I-I was just surprised, that's all!"

"Uu..."

I awkwardly laughed, scratching my head. Kanon was crying, unable to handle the tears as she refused to eye me any longer. I could not believe it. This girl was the Ultimate Assassin. _No way...that's impossible..._

Kanon was average. Yes, she looked like a normal girl. She had light blue silky hair which reached almost close to her ankles, though it was tied in a ponytail with a fake pink rose scrunchie. Although she looked pale, her eyes are a beautiful emerald green color, almost shining. She also had a birthmark on her right elbow, that of a distorted pentagon shape, however I could barely even see it because she had covered it up. I could only see it because she had her hands raised too high. Kanon was was wearing a black teeshirt with a fluffy pink on the front side, over it being a white unbuttoned blazer that had multiple school pins near the buttons. The sleeve on the left is rolled to her elbow and honestly, the blazer was too big for her, but I digressed. Kanon was wearing matching black jeans and tennis shoes as well.

She definitely was a normal girl, but, that's if it wasn't for her timidness and talent.

I still couldn't believe that Kanon would be someone labeled an "Ultimate Assassin". _Why?_ I wondered to myself, but noticing that Kanon was still fearful of my presence, I decided best to not ask and leave. _Why is she avoiding me though? Does she hate me?_ I frowned. _What did I do this time?_

I sighed, shaking my head. I didn't even realize I had been walking until I found myself bumping into someone. "Mmphk-!"

"Watch where you're going, human!"

"Okay, woah, rude. Have you ever taken classes in Common and Decent Manners 101, dude-" My eyes then widened and I quickly stepped back. "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!"

I found myself being towered by a boy. I looked up, now suddenly feeling intimidated not only by the boy's tall height, but by his menacing glare. He was definitely judging me, definitely hating my entire existence. An imposing sort of expression. I bit into my lips. _Fuck me sideways, why do I do this to myself?_ "Um, I think we got off to a bad start," I said, trying to mediate the situation to the best of my abilities. "I'm Katsumi Himura, and I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist. What about you?"

The boy crossed his arms, his expression now relaxed and slightly smug. I could not tell if he was laughing at my height or not. "I am Xolzrucronth, the Ultimate Mythologist, if you must know."

I raised an eyebrow, then shaking my head. It was obvious he was mocking me. I frowned. "Sounds splendid, but can you tell me your real name?"

The boy scoffed. "Hmph. Well, if the name's to much for your feeble human mind to handle then just call me by my real name, Nakaatsu Miyake."

* * *

 **Ultimate Mythologist - Nakaatsu Miyake**

* * *

I forced a smile towards his way, not even bothering to force back the twitch in my eye. _Fucking "feeble human mind". Oh my fucking god..._ _This guy's a real riot. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with him, aren't I?_ Other than how smug he was, I decided to take a look at Naakatsu, observing him from top to bottom.

Nakaatsu stood at a whole feet taller than me, obviously enhancing that imposing and intimidating look he seemed to radiate off. His hair was semi-short and dense, swept back and tied into a half-bun ponytail. The right half of his hair was bleached white, fluffy looking bangs reaching down to his chin and hanging over the right side of his face. The left is simply pitch black and slicked back. There were no strands to be seen. His eyes are sharp and an emerald color, however in contrast to Kanon's shining eyes his was more menacing. His eyes were almost dragon-like. His ears are small and his face was angular-shaped, his body slim and fair, though there was a bit of muscle to be seen. He was wearing a white kimono with a black trim, a maroon image of a Western dragon imprinted to the front right side. The rest of his clothing were the following: maroon hakama pants, black boots, a gilded necklace with a golden phoenix. However, that wasn't all. The most peculiar thing would be the fact that he wore sharp steel talons over a long black glove on his left hand.

 _This guy is the very definition of weird._ I inwardly laughed to myself, almost out of mockery. I didn't want to bother with Nakaatsu any longer, instead making my way to the opposite direction. I knew instantly that I would not get along with him, and so I felt inclined to leave him as soon as possible. I moved my way over to the nearest person, waving over to indicate my arrival.

The person I walked towards noticed me instantly, her waving at me with a friendly smile. An overly friendly smile at that. I almost had to question whether this person knew we were in potential danger of being treated like rats, per Rakuen. "Hello! You're the one who yelled at Rakuen for her sick prank, right?"

"Huh? Yeah..." I inwardly sighed. _So this girl thinks this whole shit is a prank._

The girl smiled. "That's great! You're a great person. My name is Airi Hisakawa, and I'm the Ultimate Matchmaker! Although unofficially people did call me the Ultimate Shipper, Ultimate Cupid, and all kinds of other things! Well, hope we'll get along well!"

* * *

 **Ultimate Matchmaker - Airi Hisakawa**

* * *

I nodded and smiled back at her. Honestly, she was definitely someone I would enjoy being around. From her introduction alone, she would definitely be someone who I would love to be with. "I'm Katsumi Himura, and I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist." I then crossed my arms. "So, what exactly do you do as a matchmaker? You basically get two people together, right?"

Airi bobbed her head up and down, me in the meantime observing her.

Airi stood a few inches taller than me and was a girl with curly brown hair that reached down to her upper back, her eyes also brown, but a darker shade that almost made them seem black. Over her eyes were gray simple glasses. Her skin tone was technically a hazel shade and there were freckles on her face, her body being lean. However, she did have a bit of muscle on her arms and upper body, making her quite attractive even to me. There was a slightly long scar on her hand, but other than that, she was normal and pretty. She was wearing a white blouse with a pink-and-green floral pattern, over a lavender short-sleeved jacket which was left unbuttoned. On the bottom she also wore a pink skirt that goes just a bit above her knee. On her hair was a heart-shaped clip which kept some of her curls in place in the front of her head. On her wrist was the bracelet which said, "The Root of All Love". I instantly recongized that those words were similar to a website, or, more specifically, her website.

"My job is to help people find their true soul mate. I run a dating blog and advice column where people can ask me questions. I usually find their ideal partner there! It might sound like I'm bragging, but I'm pretty good at finding someone their soulmate!"

I nodded my head, taking a mental note. _She'd definitely be someone I'd talk to for dating advice... I'm still single though, so fuck._

Airi noticed my pondering and began to move closer towards me. "So? Do you have a special someone in your life?"

My eyes widened. _Of course she'd ask me that!_ I cleared my throat. "Ahem, no. I'm not looking for anyone at the moment either."

The matchmaker nodded to herself. "I see, I see..." She then smiled at me again. "Well, if you need any advice, please come talk to me! I'll be sure to find you your ideal partner!"

I laughed awkwardly as I waved goodbye to Airi. For now, I still had to talk to the others. I did not want to be stuck in this hell, after all. I also did not want to be left out in the open with the others already having finished. I scanned around our haven before noticing the nearest person. I walked over to the person with a wave. "Hey, Katsumi Himura, Ultimate Sketch Artist." I did not even care how I worded myself. Honestly, I would be introducing myself about a few more thousands time, so I couldn't care less anymore. "How about you?"

The boy didn't speak, instead thinking to himself. I deadpanned. _Am I gonna get another case of asshole Nakaatsu?_

I decided to throw some good ol' sarcasm. Honestly, I couldn't care less about my personality. At this point, all I could care about was my own safety. I wanted to beat up Rakuen first of all, so the others' relationships with me could wait. _Fuck being someone you're not, Katsumi. Just embrace you being an asshole like how Nakaatsu embraced his_. "Y'know, you're pretty short for a guy." I smirked. The boy instantly turned to my view. "I find it cute."

"What the fuck?" The boy was shooting daggers at me. His face was red. "You feebleminded asshole! Do not mock me! Have you ever considered the feelings of others? You need to be much more polite!"

"Nice to see I got your attention, my cute little shortie." I continued to smirk at the boy whose face continued to grow red and redder. I crossed my arms with a coy expression. "So, name and talent."

"Tsk!" The boy definitely looked like he was about to kill me, but he quickly averted his gaze. His hands were clenched into fists and he began to speak, speaking through gritted teeth. "Shinsuke Akiyama, Ultimate Mathematician."

* * *

 **Ultimate Mathematician - Shinsuke Akiyama**

* * *

I frowned, a thought crossing my head. "Huh? Wait, are you related to Tatsuo?"

Shinsuke shook his head. He didn't look like he wanted to answer me, however he spoke anyways. "No. We just have the same surname. It's nothing complicated."

"I see..." I nodded to myself. It did make sense.

Shinsuke, like I mentioned before, was shorter than the other boys I've met. He stood only a mere three inches taller than me. His complexion was slightly brown, his dark red hair short and curly, his eyes on the meantime a beautiful azure with his eyelashes quite long. He was relatively young-looking, having dimples (which I did find cute in some way) and thin, pinkish lips. He was skinny, but fit. It was most likely that he had worked out often, his shoulders narrow. He was wearing a blue button-down shirt with a red-and-gray jersey jacket over, a small pin with the Sierpinski triangle on it. On the bottom he wore black jeans and red converse sneakers. Yes, like me, he looked normal.

I thought for a moment. Shinsuke was now silent again, ignoring me. I frowned to myself. I may have judged him wrong. He just seemed shy, in all honesty. And, yes, my thought about not caring about the others was a lie. I'm not that bad of a person. _Nakaatsu just rubbed me off too much... Sigh_. "I think you're actually a nice guy," I said, crossing my arms. "Sorry about that. I just got annoyed a bit earlier and took it out on you."

Shinsuke eyed him for a moment before shaking his head. "It's fine."

I nodded and took my leave. I made my way over towards a lonely girl. I moved towards her, catching her attention. "Hello," I began, hoping for the best of conversation. "My name's Katsumi, and I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist." I forced a smile towards the girl. "And you?"

The girl nodded her way towards me, albeit a bit too formally. "Amari Ichido."

I waited for a moment, but nothing. _Is everyone trying to make my life difficult?_ I frowned. "Um, and your talent...?"

Amari was silent again, then looking away. "Well..." She let out a small sigh. "I do not remember it."

* * *

 **Ultimate ? - Amari Ichido**

* * *

"You don't remember your talent? The fuck, really?" I pondered on the thought. I would've never expected such things to happen. Who could forget their own Ultimate talent? I found it simply impossible, however accidents do happen. I figured Amari had been struck with amnesia. "Uh, well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon."

Amari hummed in response, then silence. I shook my head and observed her.

Amari stood at an amazing five feet and eleven inches, me having to look up at her. She had straight red hair which was styled in a pixie cut, although there were strands of hair which reached to her back, making her hair length quite long. She had a diamond-shaped face, her eyes a dark green and freckles apparent. Her lips were a heart-shaped and her body structure was quite athletic as well, her being a bit tanned and me almost shocked at the large scar on her right leg. Amari was wearing an elegant, undone black jacket with a a buttoned white collared shirt underneath, thin black lines also apparent. On the bottom were her kneehigh black skirt and brown tights, black velcro shoes at the bottom. There was a silver watch on her left wrist, though from sight I could tell they didn't work.

"Um..." Since Amari wasn't talking, I decided to leave. "Bye for now."

I moved to the next person, finding another boy in the mix. I skipped towards him and began to wave my hands around. "Katsumi Himura in the house! I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist." I stopped in front of the boy, surprising him slightly. "And you?"

The boy turned to me, almost tired at that. However, surprisingly (and to my amusement), he began to throw back sarcasm at me. "And I'm Mamoru Katayama in the house. I'm the Ultimate Attorney."

* * *

 **Ultimate Attorney - Mamoru Katayama**

* * *

I grinned, almost mischievously at that. "Damn, do I enjoy some sarcasm. You and I will definitely be friends. Count on that." I then looked at Mamoru before groaning, shaking my head. "Ugh, but man, you're too tall!"

Mamoru sighed. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

 _Is he being sarcastic with me or not? I can't tell._ Despite my confusion, I decided to observe the attorney.

Mamoru stood at six feet, unsurprisingly. He was quite lean and toned, although he wasn't buff, but he did have some muscle to him. He had a fair skin tone and a sharp jawline, though his nose was thin. His eyes are a dark, sea blue color and his hair was jet black, medium in length with the top a bit long. His hair was wavy and a bit tousled. Mamoru seemed to have a bit of a scruff to him as well. He wore a light gray dress shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows and the top button undone. The tie he wore seemed loose and he wore black slacks on the bottom, dress shoes as well. On his left wrist was a black leather bracelet cuff, multiple rings on both of his hands. His rings were black and silver, but some had been decorated with jewels or engravings, interestingly.

"So, Mamoru," I began, deciding best to amuse him much more. "Have you ever brought dolls to trials?"

Mamoru scoffed at my question, although it sounded like it was out of amusement. "No, not yet. I would guess Rakuen is the first."

I whistled. "Nice~ Can't wait to see that then."

I waved to the attorney, now a bit more playful. I was now in a slightly good mood, so I decided to move to the next person as quickly as possible. I could only hope that the next person would not ruin my mood. I would not want to meet an asshole after being amused, after all.

Another girl. I walked towards her, almost smirking. "Hello, the name's Katsumi Himura-" I then stopped, realizing something very important. _Holy shit, this girl's shorter than me! Aaah!_ I quickly composed myself however, and continued to speak. "I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist, and how about you?"

The girl smiled my way. She was definitely a friendly one. "Hello!" She greeted, voice girly, yet clear and pretty.

I smiled back her way before she began to move her hands around. My lips curved into a frown as I tried to make sense of the situation. I eyed her movements and facial expressions for a few moments before a light clicked in my head. "Oh!" My eyes widened. "You use sign language."

The girl's eyes seemed to lighten instantly from what I said, her quickly moving her hands about. "You can read me?"

I laughed as I translated her movements. "I learned sign language when I was young since my cousin's deaf. I don't think I'm a master at speaking it though, but I can definitely understand you."

Her lips curved into a wide smile and she began to happily sign. "My name's Mizuki Yuuki, and I'm the Ultimate Blogger!" She then stopped for a moment, now frowning as she continued. "From what Rakuen said however, I don't think I'm supposed to be here."

* * *

 **Ultimate Blogger - Mizuki Yuuki**

* * *

I frowned, crossing my arms. "What? Why?"

Mizuki was saddened. "I'm a senior. I'm not apart of your class. I believe my little sister should've been in your class, and I am certain since she had gotten an invitation to this place like you guys. Her name's Suzuran, and she's the Ultimate Producer. Have you seen her possibly? Have you seen her at all?"

I thought for a moment. "Suzuran..." I shook my head, eyeing Mizuki sadly. "I haven't seen her. Do you know why you're here though?"

Mizuki shook her head. "I do not remember anything. I believe this was a mistake on Rakuen's part, but I'm afraid that if I tell her she wouldn't care." She then frowned, now displeased. "What should I do?"

I scratched my head. I honestly felt bad for not being able to help my supposed senior classmate, but I couldn't do anything. All I could hope was that I either find Suzuran or persuade Rakuen into letting Mizuki go. Besides, Mizuki was not apart of my class. Why should Rakuen torture her? I even wondered if Rakuen had done something to her sister. "I'm sure if you tell Rakuen she'll understand. I mean, that doll's fucking crazy, but it might work."

Mizuki sighed, now speaking. "I hope so." She smiled at me. "Thank you."

"No problem." I crossed my arms, shaking my head. I did not deserve the blogger's words of gratitude. I did not deserve anything. Still, despite my guilt I observed her in the meantime.

Mizuki stood at a few inches shorter than me. She was skinny and frail, to put it bluntly. She looked young, although not too young, she looked like she was about fourteen, although she did have some curves to her. Her skin was pale and her face was quite elfin-like, triangular. Scarily enough, there were all sorts of surgical scars over her body, on her legs, her arms, everywhere. I did not question it however, instead noticing her brownish hair (though it is red) which laid low to back and tied in a thick plait with a sparkly hairtie, a messy fringe on her forehead. Her eyes were a slanted light green, the whites of her eyes slightly gray-blue. Mizuki also seemed to have silver crutches with her, although she didn't seem to use them at the moment, though she still had them out. Mizuki was wearing a thin pink-marshmallow hoodie with rabbit ears on the hood and carrots on the pockets, her skirt a geometric patterned shades of pink and her socks white, shoes bright pink with black soles.

 _She's definitely quite the cute one..._ I inwardly slapped myself across the face, deciding to leave her. I waved to her kindly and headed to the next person. I moved towards someone and introduced myself, speaking in a rather rushed tone. _How many more people do I have left?_ "I'm Katsumi, Ultimate Sketch Artist. You?"

"Peasant, do not speak to me. You cannot compare to the radiating blondes which are strangely not present in this room. Ugh, what a shame."

I wanted to slap the boy instantly. _Is it just me or are most of the guys either weird or assholes? Can there be one normal guy here?_ I decided against yelling at the boy and crossed my arms. "Name and talent please."

"... Peasant, I go with Victor Aimoto, and although I'm officially labeled as the Ultimate Thief, I prefer if you called me the Ultimate Collector instead."

I inwardly smirked to myself. _I definitely think thief suits you best._

* * *

 **Ultimate Thief - Victor Aimoto**

* * *

I looked around the room, noticing Rakuen was still present. She didn't seem to care about us at all, almost bored at this point. I rolled my eyes and eyed Victor. "So, like, are you rich or something? You keep calling me a _peasant_ , after all."

Victor scoffed, almost disgusted with my statement. "Believe what you want, little lady."

"Wow, what a flirt." I sneered at the thief before throwing some sarcasm his way. I did not even bother to sugarcoat my words. "You might as well curse Rakuen for how horribly rusty the cage looks, huh?"

I didn't bother to hear what the thief had to say, instead eyeing his appearance.

Victor stood, unsurprisingly, at a tall height. His hair was long, but it only reached just above his shoulders. His hair is a purple hue, a few strands covering parts of his face with the rest combed back. His eyes are a cold gray color, his nose quite average like his ears. He did seem relatively handsome with him having an oval-shaped face and a bit muscular body structure, being slim with long legs with a slight tan. He was wearing a black suit, around the collar being light-and-dark striped purple tie. The suit jacket, however, is open and underneath he wore a light purple shirt with a dark purple symbol of a phoenix. His shoes were black and there was a watch on his left wrist (I think everyone had a knack for watches).

Well, handsome, but an asshole. I didn't want to bother talking to him, so I quickly made my way out and moved to the next person. A strange girl with a surgical mask on. I frowned, but decided to introduce myself anyways. "Katsumi, Sketch Artist. And how about you?"

The girl jumped at my sudden introduction. She seemed cautious. No, she was paranoid. She was looking around the room for a moment, darting her eyes back and forth before finally resting her view onto me. "I... My name's Naosu. Naosu Kurushimi. I'm the Ultimate Medical Patient."

* * *

 **Ultimate Medical Patient - Naosu Kurushimi**

* * *

I immediately raised my eyebrows, curious. "Medical patient?" I crossed my arms. "Sounds...intruiging."

Naosu did not take that well, eyes widened. "I-it really isn't. P-please leave me alone..."

 _Ouch. I'm scaring like a lot of people today._ I awkwardly nodded, instead backing away and taking a look at her.

Naosu was strangely tall, standing around the same height as Victor, though a bit shorter. She had dark blue hair that I almost mistook as black which flowed down to her back, her eyes a gray-hazel color. She's fairly slender in build, however she was underweight. She looked tiny at that point, strangely. She does have a few scars over her body (like Mizuki), however I immediately understood it was based on her talent. Naosu, as I mentioned before, was wearing a surgical mask over her mouth. She was wearing a white lab coat with a basic gray teeshirt underneath, on the bottom wearing simple jeans and dark purple boots. The back of her lab coat was a logo, a logo which I assumed was from a hospital of sorts. On her left hand was a single blue Latex glove as well.

I didn't know what else to say to Naosu. She was definitely wary of me, a bit too wary. Since she was paranoid, she didn't want to speak with me. I had little to do but leave, moving to the next person who was just a few feet away from where I stood.

"Oh." I instantly recognized who the person was. I couldn't help but smile, knowing that _that_ specific person was not at all rude or strange or overly anxious. He was definitely the most normal thus far. "Rekishi, what's up?"

"Just meeting all of the lovely people here." Rekishi smiled my way. "And I suppose you're the same, my sketch artist Katsumi?"

I grinned. The boy was definitely trying to amuse me, that's for sure. "Cute," I began, crossing my arms. "I'm doing well, thank you very much, Mr. Rekishi the Ultimate Art Historian."

* * *

 **Ultimate Art Historian - Rekishi Hakubutsu**

* * *

Rekishi chuckled. "You're quite the adorable lady. Have you ever wondered if the art gods and goddesses created you with such delicate pastels and paint?"

I smiled, although my cheeks began to flush a red hue. As much as I liked teasing others and throwing comments at them, being the target of one was a whole different story. "I-I could say the same for you." I slapped myself. _Oh god damnit, I didn't mean to compliment him!_

Rekishi whistled my way. "Really now? You have quite the good taste, milady."

"Shut it!" I pouted and decided to observe the art historian, looking up from his head then down to his toes.

The art historian had dark brown hair which is slicked back and reached to his neck, strands over his forehead, though only a bit. His complexion was somewhat tanned, but it was still fair. His eyes being an alluring ocean blue and his face was clean, his body average in structure with a bit of muscle. Although it may seem a bit strange, I noticed his hands instantly. They were full of callouses. Well, I digressed. Rekishi was wearing a three piece suit that contained a white buttoned dress shirt, a blue-and-white striped tie, a dark blue vest dress with white buttons, and a blue blazer (which had a white-and-black striped handkerchief in his left outer chest pocket). On the bottom he wore dark blue dress pants and shiny dark brown pointed shoes with white socks. On his left wrist was a silver diamond studded watch, an anime bracelet, a gold ring on his left middle finger and a silver engraved ring (which was also an anime one). To top his flashy look off, he was wearing a gray fedora with a blue ribbon as well.

"Are you checking me out?" Rekishi smiled mischievously my way. My cheeks blushed as he chuckled. "I know, I know, I'm quite an art piece, huh?"

"You are so cheesy..." I groaned, but I couldn't help but laugh a bit. I then smirked his way. "How about you? Aren't you checking me out too, Rekishi-Kishi?"

Rekishi's eyes widened. "What a strange nickname."

I chuckled. "You think? I think it's fine for you." I waved him off with a smirk, the art historian unable to respond as I took my leave. I was proud of myself for that statement and I moved to the next person, my witty sense of humor still in my veins. "Hello, the name's Katsumi, and I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist. How about you?"

"My name's Rosetta, and I'm the Ultimate Fairy!"

I stopped, now staring blankly at the girl. "Um...are you sure about that?"

She immediately threw herself at me, although with how she's shorter than me, I wasn't at all intimidated. "Don't say that! I'm a fairy! Fairies exist!"

"Okaaaay then..." I scratched my head, wondering what to say. "Um, well, Ms. Fairy, did Hope's Peak give you another title other than Ultimate Fairy?"

The girl nodded, though she still looked pissed. "Hmph! Of course they did. They gave me the title of Ultimate Parapsychologist, but I don't know why. They also forced me to go by the name Akari Yumi, but my name's Rosetta!" She scoffed, shaking her head. "They don't believe in fairies! How stupid are they?"

* * *

 **Ultimate Parapsychologist - Akari Yumi**

* * *

 _Jesus Christ she's quite the forceful little one._ I nodded slowly. I did not want to annoy her any longer. Rather, I do not want to suffer any more headaches than needed. "Yeah, I know right?" I smiled awkwardly her way, deciding to not bother speaking any longer and eyeing her.

Akari- I mean, Rosetta, was pale in complexion and stood a few inches shorter than me, though few. She had a round face, her eyes large and dark red while her hair was pink and tied into a bun, one rose on the top of her head. She was wearing a green longsleeved shirt with various pink decorations, on the bottom also wearing a pink skirt and orange shoes. Unsurprisingly from how she introduced herself, she was wearing yellow wings on her back. Fairy wings, to be more exact. She also was holding a purple wand with her purple gloves. Basically, a colorful girl.

I waved her quickly and made my way to the next person. I moved towards him and smiled as kindly as I could, hoping he was normal in the slightest bit. "Hi! I'm Katsumi, the Ultimate Sketch Artist. You?"

The boy turned to me. _Oh fucking hell he's too tall-! Wait, and scary too! What the fuck man?_ The boy averted his gaze. "I'm Akahoshi Tashiaki, or Tashi, if you'd prefer. I'm the Ultimate Boxer."

* * *

 **Ultimate Boxer - Akahoshi Tashiaki**

* * *

From first impressions alone, the boy did not seem like a nice person. Even when he spoke, it sounded like Akahoshi couldn't care less. I didn't even know what to say as I was completely stunned by his height, unable to even fully observe him.

Akahoshi, being a boxer, is built and athletic. There seemed to be little no body fat on him, at all. Bulky, he was also slightly tanned and looked rough. His arms are long and his fingers were bit slender, almost like they were sasuages. His hair was pitch black, thick. His hair is mainly seen at the top, his sides and back seeming to have been shaved off. Eyes were a light brown color, and he looked as if he was squinting most of the time. Being a boxer, it's not surprising that he'd have a lot of scars as well. Akahoshi was wearing a pair of black boots which was accompanied by his faded dark jeans, a black belt around the waist. On the top, he looked as if he was wearing all sorts of layers. He was wearing a dark brown leather jacket with black tribal designs on the right sleeve and shoulder, underneath wearing a loose purple button-up shirt and a black shirt underneath that. He also seemed to be wearing more and also seemed to have a necklace, however I couldn't tell at this point.

"Um, well, thanks for talking to me." I waved awkwardly to Akahoshi who did not care in the slightest. I did not know what else to do except leave and move on to the next person. "Hey," I began, eyeing the girl. "I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist, Katsumi. You?"

The girl smiled my way. "Hi! My name's Elise Watanabe, and I'm the Ultimate Fencer! I hope we can get along well!"

* * *

 **Ultimate Fencer - Elise Watanabe**

* * *

I nodded. "Of course. I rather not live in this ship though. There's like a crazy doll here."

Elise giggled. "Yes, I understand, but do not fret! I'm sure we will be able to stop that doll!"

"Yeah, I believe that." I nodded as I observed Elise.

Elise was tall, standing at about six inches taller. Her hair had been tied in a ponytail that reached down to her back, wavy and a light brown color. Her eyes were a hazel shade and her face was an oval shape. She was lean and slender, then a mole apparent near her right eye. The girl was wearing a dark blue school jacket with a white blouse underneath, on the bottom her shoes and a black-and-dark-blue checkered skirt which reached her upper thighs. Around her neck was a dark blue bow.

"Well," I began, deciding to make small talk with her. "We do have a boxer as well. I'm sure if you tried and become comrades with him you'll be able to beat the living shit out of Rakuen."

Elise smiled, chuckling at my statement. "Is that so? Well, I certainly hope so!"

I smiled back at the girl before moving on to the next person. She was really friendly, having waved back at me and smiling as widely as possible when I left. I eyed around the room, trying to find the next person before I heard a bark.

"H-huh?" I was stunned. I quickly darted my head back and forth. "Did someone bark at me?"

Another bark, this time from below. I whipped my head down to find a clothed dog eyeing me, a large smile on his face. "Oh my god," I began, stunned. I didn't even realize that I had fallen down to the ground, now throwing the dog into my arms. "Akitas are so cute!"

The dog was wagging his tail, barking happily. I cuddled him for a few minutes before stopping, a sudden realization hitting me. "Wait, why is there a dog here?" I looked down at the Akita. "Um, do you know what you're doing here?"

The dog continued to eye me with excitement, however his mouth began to open. "Rokuro's here because he's an Ultimate like you!"

"Holy shit!" I almost dropped the dog from where I stood, jumping back. All I could comprehend was that the dog had spoke. Though robotic, he was still talking. "How are you- Huh? Wait, you're an Ultimate?"

The dog nodded. "Yeah! Rokuro's name is Rokuro, and he's the Ultimate Dog! Nice to meet you, human!"

* * *

 **Ultimate Dog - Rokuro**

* * *

"O-oh, I see..." I was still stunned. I did not know how to respond without stuttering, having scratched my head. "Um, I'm Katsumi, and I'm the Ultimate Sketch Artist."

Rokuro barked at me. I'm guessing he acknowledged my title, an excited tone in his bark. I eyed him, albeit awkwardly.

Rokuro was a large Akita breed dog, his head resembling that of a bear's. His ears are triangular and his coat was of standard length, though he had a red urajiro throughout, a white underbelly and mouth. His eyes were a dark red which almost acted like an overlord's glare, they were staring straight at me. Rokuro's tail had a double curl. He wore a black vest which covered his upper body, the left side having a large smiley face on in blue, the right with his name being labeled. Around his neck was a blue collar, the collar having the strange text "X6" on it.

"Well, this is certainly a wild ride." I awkwardly scratched my head, eyeing Rokuro who began to bark at another person, walking towards them. I sighed and turned to the next person, unable to speak with a surge of energy. I was now exhausted. "Katsumi, Sketch Artist. You?"

The girl crossed her arms, expressionless. "Rei Miyazaki, Ultimate Historical Swordsman."

* * *

 **Ultimate Historical Swordsman - Rei Miyazaki**

* * *

I nodded. "I see. Um, well, are you gonna beat up Rakuen too then? There's a lot of fighters in this class I see."

Rei nodded back. "Certainly if time calls for it."

That was all she said. Like a lot of the others, she was now silent and ignoring me. I shook my head inwardly, figuring out that it's best to just observe her.

Rei had a somewhat olive tone, her body lean and athletic, muscles to her, definitely fitting to that of a swordsman. Her stomach was toned and her waist was small, her bust size strangely not at all spectacular. Her hair was a dark brown color, angled in a wavy bob that's short on the back, tapering on the front. Her face was a heart shape and her cheekbones were high, soft. Her eyes were a gray-green color and her cupid-bow lips were a defined red. Rei was wearing a dark green, short-sleeved crop top and a leather jacket with sleeves to her elbows. On the bottom she wore black cargo pants which were tucked into combat-style boots. Belted loosely around her waist was a leather scabbard with silver lining. To top if all off, she was wearing simple fingerless gloves.

"Um, nice to meet you," that was all I could say before taking my leave, almost in the process bumping into Tatsuo who had walked my direction. "Shoot!" I frowned as I eyed the film critic. "Dude, seriously?"

Tatsuo did not look at all surprised, however, he was eyeing me with a small frown. "Quite the contrary. I have just finished introducing myself, and I ended up meeting you again."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you not understand sarcasm? Well, whatever, let's see if Rakuen pulls some crazy shit now."

And just as I said such words, Rakuen stood from the ground, clearing her throat. "Ahem!" Everyone turned to her. "An excellent job, Ultimates! You will now be rewarded accordingly." She clapped her hands, the sudden ground beneath us rumbling. It took a few moments before the cage slowly began to lift, the ground still rumbling as Rakuen smiled our way. "Also, I want to note that violence against me will be strictly prohibited."

The cage was lifting, lifting all the way to the ceiling. Everyone was shocked, unable to make sense of the situation until they were all free, me included. I whipped my head around and wondered what to do. Should I move? Should I move towards Rakuen and demand for an explanation? I did not know.

"So," Victor was the first to speak, eyes directed to the doll. He was eyeing her in disgust. "Should we apprehand her now?"

Elise let out a small gasp and began to position herself. "Alright, let's do this!"

Airi smiled happily as she watched from the background. "You can do it, girl!"

"Um, w-wait..." Naosu was speaking in the background, almost sounding too quiet at that. She was trembling, hysterical. "A-are you sure t-that's a good idea...?"

Rakuen laughed before answering a direct, "No. It's not." She clapped her hands again, the lights shutting down. Everyone let out a surprised gasp before the lights turned back on, Rakuen no hanging on the cage, hands gripping onto the metal bars. "If you Ultimates try to harm me, then I will resort to self-defense. I have the mechanisms to protect myself from anyone. I'm also here to protect you Ultimates in the case of a natural disaster, but other than that, if you harm me I will have to punish you accordingly."

I scoffed and glared at the doll. "You're not even our boss! You can't tell us what to do!"

"Well, remember that I am the one holding you Ultimates inside this ship, after all." Rakuen smiled. "I will tell you that the chances of your survival is much more higher than the chances of your survival if you were to openly harm me. Experiments are slow and tedious. Slapping some violence first thing in the morning without a sense of the situation will result in punishment and death."

I clenched into my fists. "Then what do you want us to do? You allowed us to move around freely, so what the fuck do you want us to do now?"

"Glad you asked!" The doll giggled happily, swinging from bar to bar. I was honestly shocked that she hadn't fell down, yet. I would love to throw something at the doll and scare her, but I forfeited the idea. "I want you Ultimates to live your life normally for now. Dinner will be ready in a few hours, so I would suggest that making yourselves comfortable in this ship is your new goal to reach."

"You want us to walk around the place and travel?" I frowned. I could not help but think that Rakuen was making a fool of us. "Are you trying to suggest that we're living here or some shit?"

Elise's eyes widened. "B-but what about our parents?! How about Hope's Peak? Wouldn't they realize something's off?"

Tatsuo shook his head. "I do not believe it is that simple. Simply put, villains in movies will always find a way around those plot holes. If I were to suggest, this villain of our's, Rakuen, most likely used the invitation of a _cruise ship_ as her disguise to keep us in here. Our families are most likely thinking that we are in a fine trip by now, not that we're being held hostage."

"They do believe that Hope's Peak sent the invitations..." Shinsuke murmured to himself, frowning. "We believed in it too as well."

"Yes, so I believe you should make yourselves comfortable before dinner comes." Rakuen moved to the nearest bar next to her, her smile still uncanny and superficial as always. "Your rooms are in this floor as well, after all. Please make yourselves comfortable. We will have a long journey ahead of us after all, Ultimates."

And, before I knew it, the moment Rakuen snapped her fingers, the lights shut down. The lights turned back on, and she was gone.

We were left flabbergasted.

* * *

 **Hello! I hope you guys enjoyed this introduction! How do you guys like Katsumi s far, and what do you guys think about the other characters (even your own!)? State so in the reviews, lol! In the next chapter, we will meet up with our basic setting exposition arc, and possibly more character interactions...? I don't know. Anyways, also vote in the poll on my profile so I can see who you guys are enjoying so far!**

 **Fluffytail15: I liked Akari, honestly! I find her really interesting and cute lol. Lol, everyone's confused about the Ultimate Dog.**

 **liammarklh88: I guess you have a point. This is Danganronpa, so yeah people should expect some gorey stuff! Lol, I'm glad you look like you're enjoying the characters so far (from the roster list though)!**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: I love angry boys lol. Yeah, I'm hoping to develop all of the characters and round them off well with each other!**

 **Radio L: Yeah, hoorah! Lol.**

 **RioA: Yaaaas, me too.**

 **1Glimmershine: I'm glad that made your day! I'm glad you sounded interested in the characters, and lol the Ultimate Dog reigned the best first impressions for sho.**

 **Sparkquill: Yeah, I love her personality! Hope you'll like a lot of the characters lol.**

 **aWasTooShort: Nope, of course I like Rokuro! Definitely unique and out there, so I love it! I'm glad you're interested in a lot of the characters, and lol yeah I hope my gruesome warning/disclaimer will excite you for what the future has in store.**

 **FairyBookworm: No probs! I'm guessing you made a lot of ocs then. Oh wow, lol, that's interesting to hear! I'm glad you like the cast!**

 **Agrael: I'm happy you're excited for this story, so I'm hoping I won't lower your expectations too badly! Glad you love the cast then!**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Yes, it will be very intruiging indeed. Lol, everyone likes the dog, huh? I hope you enjoyed the chapter then!**


	4. Prologue

**Thank you all for the kind words! Lol, I'm glad you're all enjoying this so far, so let's get ahead to the next chapter! Also note that I'm really bad at placing the setting. I wanted to make this more detailed, but since the setting's not all extravagent, then... :(**

* * *

I remembered the time when I first met Reina.

We were merely in the same art class, however I didn't bother to even greet her. I couldn't care less about others aside from my longtime friends and family. I was busy. I had commissions to take care of and family to tend to.

I didn't want to bother with her, but she always nagged me. "Hey!" She would always begin, speaking too loudly when we were drawing. I had to always hide my face out of embarrassment since the teacher would always glare at us. "What're you drawing?"

And I would always ignore her. Why should I talk to her? I didn't care about making friends at Hope's Peak. I had friends at my local neighborhood and elementary school. Besides, I was much more focused on the fact that I didn't want to become a professional sketch artist. I wanted to become like my older siblings and pave my own road.

Honestly, I was jealous of Reina. She was always the one to push forward and pave her own road. She took the classes that somehow tended to her liking. Despite being a fashion designer, Reina could've been more than that. She was the student council president of the school. She was always in the top fifty of our year's class. She was always great at singing and drawing. Honestly, she was perfect, and I despised her for it.

That was the only thing on my mind until she called me.

I was staring directly at her, the two of us behind the school. I didn't know why she wanted me to meet her here, and especially with such a setting. With the Sun shining down upon us and with how fiercely she was staring at me, I couldn't help but worry that she'd confessed to me. I didn't know her well, after all, and honestly speaking, I was a dick towards her.

"Katsumi."

My eyes widened. I couldn't help but hold my breath. "Yeah?"

"You..." She was playing with her locks of hair. "Do you... Do you know, um, Osami Nakamura?"

I raised an eyebrow. Osami Nakamura. At times, I did like to tease him since he tends to get flustered easily (like, I think they call them "tsunderes" in anime?), but other than that, I never paid much attention to him. He was merely an Ultimate Investigator, and nothing more. I didn't bother to care about people anyways. "Yeah, he's in my math class. Why?"

"Oh! Then can you, uh..." Reina quickly shoved an envelope to my chest. "Can you please tell him that's from me?!"

I blinked for a couple of seconds. "Sure..."

I wouldn't have ever guessed that this would be the start of our friendship.

* * *

I was dumbfounded for a few minutes, unable to move as I could hear the faint murmurs from around me. I was unable to process what had just happened. Rakuen was a doll who had taken us hostage. I was in a ship filled with my supposed classmates, supposedly to be experimented on like lab rats. _Why? Why the fuck is this happening?_

I was unable to do anything until I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I looked back to find Elise, smiling my way. "We should just do as Rakuen says for now," she suggested, speaking loudly to gain the others' attention. "I think that will be the best course of action!"

"You think?" Rekishi frowned, thinking on the idea. "I mean, we do not have a choice, do we?"

"Hmph." Nakaatsu crossed his arms. "Feebleminded humans can only think for each other."

"Asshole, shut it." I threw a disgusted look at the mythologist before looking at Elise, Rekishi, and the others. "So, the plan's to look around the ship right? Maybe we'll find Rakuen hiding somewhere. Maybe she'll be cooking in the dining room or some shit?"

Tatsuo shook his head, raising a finger. "Considering our setting right now, I would not call our setting for dinner a _dining room_. More specifically, I would label it as nothing more than a mess hall. We do not seem to be in the best of circumstances."

"Okay, genre savvy." I rolled my eyes. "Are we all just gonna barge in and trash the place down?"

"Ooh, we should do this all together!" Airi smiled brightly, throwing her hands high to the air. "I think it would be nice for us all to get together. Especially with Rakuen plotting something, being in a group will provide with us safety."

Victor scoffed. "I rather go alone, thank you very much peasant."

I frowned. Although it was obvious some people were unwilling to cooperate and get along, I honestly hoped for the meantime. "Then why don't the guys who want to be alone just travel alone?"

Nakaatsu smugly looked my way. "Sounds like the obvious idea."

I held back the urge to slap him, instead sighing. "So, is that the plan?"

"I-I mean, whatever works best." Naosu was in the background, rubbing her hands together.

"Our choice is our choice." Elise nodded, accepting that statement as fact. "Alright, those who wish to not travel with us, please leave to your discretion!"

One by one, those who did not want to join began to leave. Unsurprisingly, Nakaatsu was the first to take the lead, going through the rusty door. Victor began to leave, Kanon and Mamoru following suit. Some other people began to leave, those people being Rei and Akahoshi, surprisingly. I then eyed Naosu, noticing her hesitating. I questioned her thoughts before she began to leave the room as well, a doubtful look on her face.

 _Why does she look so unsure of herself?_ I decided to not ask that aloud, instead eyeing the rest of the people inside the room. Rekishi was the first to speak, smiling at the rest. "I suppose we should go now?"

Mizuki cupped her hands together, speaking happily. "Right."

"Alright!" Elise smiled brightly. "Let's do this!"

I wanted to pump my fist up and scream like how people would do in a volleyball match, but I didn't feel like it at the moment. Rather, I didn't want people to look my way, eyebrows raised in confusion. I wasn't that crazy, I assure you.

Anyways, we began to head out of the room, Elise leading the way and slamming the door open.

"... Damn, this place _does not_ look like a fucking cruise ship at all."

Tatsuo nodded knowingly, almost smirking. "Hah! I knew it! We are in a- Mmph!"

I did my best to shut the boy up, covering his mouth. "Tatsuo, shut it."

"This is..." Rekishi smiled awkwardly at us, scratching his head. "This is quite the depressing sight, almost as depressing as _The Anguished Man_."

I shuddered, almost wanting to release the film critic from my grip and lock the art historian in a threshold. Instead, I sarcastically, but sweetly, smiled his way. "Rekishi sweetheart, do not mention that artwork again."

Airi tiled her head. "Sounds scary." She then smiled, saluting no one. "Alright, this may look depressing, but let's just think of the good things! We're gonna have dinner soon, right?"

Mizuki had gotten ahold of her notebook, writing into it and smiling widely. "I hope the food's tasty and healthy enough for us."

Rokuro barked happily. Everyone looked as if they had wanted to say something, but I couldn't care less. I could only care about our surroundings. I didn't even bother to eye Tatsuo who was begging me to release him, instead staring at our surroundings.

Everything... Everything was old and rusty. The hallways were dirty, rust to be seen on the walls. The ground slightly covered in grime, and I swore I could spot a few cobwebs hanging from either the corners or atop of the walls. The door which I spotted just to the left of where we were was nothing more than a rusty iron door. The rust made parts of the door the color of a horrible brown, then dust seen everywhere. The lights which lit the hallways were flickering, the ceiling mount lights flickering from every feet. Disgusting. It was truly disgusting.

"Rakuen expects us to live here?" I was utterly disgusted and horrified. "What the fuck? Are we fucking waste to her?!"

Tatsuo was able to loosen my grip, now moving down and standing to the side. "You must calm yourself. We are here to investigate, not cry."

"Why're you so calm?" I couldn't believe it. "She's treating us like lab rats!"

"Tatsuo's right though." Shinsuke eyed me with a stern expression, lips curved to disgust. "As much as how disgusting this is, we shouldn't allow ourselves to be overwhelmed."

"I mean..." I wanted to curse, but I shook my head instead and frowned. "Yeah, I guess so."

I sighed as we began to head to the door to the left. Elise was the first to lead, opening the iron door and walking inside, us following suit. We walked inside to find ourselves eyeing a long white folding table, metal benches spread around. It was a long table, the benched extending long as well. If I had to guess, this was the dining hall. Rather, the mess hall, if I were to follow what Tatsuo said. Like the hallways, the mess hall was rusty as well as dirty. There were cobwebs everywhere and the lights were dim. I spotted the kitchen at the back, an iron door to the corner. I did not bother to enter, a wooden plate saying "DO NOT ENTER". I knew better than to open it.

"Wow, this place is a mess," Airi said, frowning. She crossed her arms and eyed the group. "You think we could ask Rakuen to clean it up?"

"I doubt she'd do that," Rosetta (or Akari, I'm guessing I should call her that before she yells at me again) said, lips curved in disgust. "Hmph! This is not a place where fairies would live in! Stupid doll!"

I deadpanned. "I think this is a place suited for _no one_."

Mizuki giggled. "Agreed."

"So this is where we're going to eat..." Rekishi frowned, almost scowling at how bad the room looked. He eyed the folding table, which, not surprisingly in all honestly, was quite dusty. He placed a finger onto it and scrunched his nose, blowing the dust away. "How unhygenic."

"I suppose we could ask her to clean the table." Tatsuo eyed me without a sense of care. "She does want to experiment on us, so she should understand that being unhygenic will lead to quicker deaths."

"Oh my god," Shinsuke murmured underneath his breath. "I did not need to hear that."

Airi laughed awkwardly and slapped Tatsuo on the back. "Don't worry about that, Mr. Tatsuo! Let's worry more about what food she'll feed us instead, alright?"

"It's probably going to be porridge and a single glass of water."

"Wow, aren't you excited?" I eyed the film critic with a sarcstic laugh.

Anyways, I didn't bother. There was nothing else to be seen inside of the mess hall, that is, unless you care about counting the dust bunnies on the ground as perfectly as possible. That, or you could count off the cobwebs. It's your choice. Who am I to judge?

As much as I would love to enter into the other door, I decided against it. Honestly, it was not a smart move if I were to enter. My hunch was telling me such.

We agreed that we should continue to move, escaping from the mess hall and moving back into the ship's floor. We moved towards the middle from the mess hall to the cargo room (where we were held hostage) and headed down the hallway, suddenly finding ourselves eyeing an array of wooden (though, unsurprisingly to me) worn, rusty doors. An array of doors from both sides, the left and right. To be more exact, eight on the left and nine on the right. I was intruiged by the setting, however once I eyed the strange icons on the doors, I realized what the rooms were.

"These are our bedrooms, right?"

Elise pursed her lips as she eyed each room, looking from left to right. She then nodded her head with a wide smile, picking up Rokuro who barked happily while she spoke. "Yes! And, to add on to Katsumi's words, the boys and girls' rooms are seperated!"

Shinsuke muttered to himself, eyeballing the Akita. "Okay, no, seriously, why is a dog an Ultimate...?"

"That's nothing new," Rosetta (yeah, I'm too nice to call her Akari in my head) said, pouting with her cheeks puffed out.

Amari frowned, eyeing the so-called fairy. "Don't be mean to Elise."

Rosetta scoffed, averting her gaze and crossing her arms. "Hmph!"

"I wonder if our rooms are anything alike to the mess hall?" Mizuki signed to me.

I sighed. Mizuki did have a point. There was nothing "new" about this place at all. To hell with calling this place a "cruise ship". This was nothing more than a dungeon, and we were its prisoners.

"We should check our rooms later," Rekishi suggested, smiling. "We should investigate every other place first, right Kat?"

"Aww, you gave me a nickname. Cute." I smirked at the art historian before eyeing the group, nodding my head. "Alright, I think Rekishi-Kishi has a point. We could eye our own rooms later. I'm more interested in finding a damn escape route."

"Ah, right." Shinsuke frowned, agreeing. "An escape route."

"Will there even be one?" Amari asked, pondering.

Airi frowned and raised her hands up. "Do not worry! We'll definitely find a way out. Just think positively!"

"Agreed!" Elise stood firm, confident and tall.

Rosetta scoffed. "Well, we _better_ find a way out!"

Rokuro barked happily and jumped out of Elise's arms, running around in circles. I knew what he was doing- he was trying his best to make us feel relaxed. I couldn't help but smile at him, my shoulders relaxing. "Yeah, we'll escape. Thanks, Rokuro."

With our newfound sense of confidence, we continued down the hallways and looked to the first room on the right. It was a metallic, iron door. Strangely a door which would be used to hide a stash of money. I frowned, now genuinely curious as I turned the handle on the knob. The door creaked, and I walked inside, the rest following suit.

It was a white, full-on white room. There were white walls, white ceiling, and a blue tiled ground. It was certainly a medical-looking room, yet it wasn't. There were no medical supplies anywhere, nothing. The only thing to be seen was the examination chair and few couches to the sides. There was a potted bonsai tree to the left corner of the room. There was also a television screen attached to the wall to the right, near the chair, but other than that- there was nothing.

"What is this place?" I asked, unaware that I had just spoken out, loud.

Tatsuo was the one to answer me, speaking without hesitation. "A therapy room."

My eyes widened as I observed the room again. "Really?" I wanted to question the room's eligibility to be a therapy room, but I didn't. "Why the hell is there a therapy room?"

Shinsuke averted his gaze. "If I had to make a guess, it's for the _experiments_ Rakuen plans to do to us. She'll experiment on us and then provide consultation afterwards so we aren't _too_ broken."

"What..." I pursed my lips, a wave of disgust and fear overwhelming me. "T-that's bullshit. I did not sign up for this shit. I didn't even want to be here!"

"Calm down, Katsumi." Tatsuo said, crossing his arms.

"R...right..." I hated how hotheaded I was sometimes. I could feel angry tears beginning to form near the corners of my eyes, but I held it back. To have people see me break down would be a disaster.

Mizuki signed to me with a worried look. "Although this room may be a therapy room, it... It makes me feel the opposite."

"Honestly? It does." I sighed. "I hate it."

We left the moment I spoke. To even think about the therapy room's purpose would hinder us, and so we walked straight down from the door and to the next rusted door. Elise opened it, and we walked inside.

"Oh, I see." Amari crossed her arms. "An entertainment room."

I eyed the room. Amari was right- this was an entertainment room. The ceiling was a velvet color as well as the walls, only the ground to be a smooth, dark green. I was shocked to find that this room was the least bit tidy. Though the television from the left corner was a bit dusty, I spotted the video game systems from below. There were two green baskets to the right, the baskets filled with controllers and video games. There were a few scattered folding chairs in the room, but honestly? I think this room's decent, especially considering everything else I've seen.

I walked over to the baskets and took out a game. _Super Smash Bros. 4..._ I frowned. Rakuen did have a variety of games. I took ahold of a couple more, finding all sorts of games. From kid-friendly games to fighting games to straight-up gorey games- everything was here. There were even visual novels as well, to my liking. I cannot even believe there were American games and European games in the basket.

"Maybe Rakuen wants us to bond over video games?" Airi suggested, a kind smile on her lips. "I think this is a marvelous place!"

Rosetta frowned. "I doubt that, honestly..."

"I'm shocked that she'd even prepare us this kind of place," I said, suspicious. _Is she trying to make us comfortable here or something?_

"Well, this place isn't the most pretty, but it's decent." Rekishi nodded. "I would've expected for Rakuen to not provide us with such a place either."

Airi walked over to the television, swiping the dust away before looking down at the systems. "Who wants to play?"

Shinsuke grunted. "Now?"

"No." Amari was blunt. "We need to investigate this floor first before we do anything else."

Airi pouted, but sighed in defeat and nodded. "Yes."

We moved to the next room, which was, strangely a small building of its own. I moved to the door in hopes of opening it, however the iron door didn't budge. It was locked. "Well, damn." I frowned.

Rekishi frowned to himself. "Huh. Must be important if Rakuen has it locked."

"Mhm..." I sighed. I wondered what the doll might have with the door locked. Probably something sinister, I imagine. _For the "experiments"? Ugh, actually, don't think about that._

I looked from behind, then noticing a barred up furnace. I eyed it for a moment, watching the fire blooming from the machine. "Huh. It's like a fireplace."

Shinsuke scoffed. "Well, I would call it that if this place does not have any heating."

I watched as the fire inside of the furnace burnt the coals, possibly to make this ship continuing sailing. I reached my hand through the bar, ignoring Elise who was shocked beyond her wits. I couldn't reach more than three fingers though, and at the same time the furnace was quite far from my sight. It was about an arm and a half if I were to estimate.

"Then again, I'm not the tallest person here..." I murmured underneath my breath, then looking at the taller members of the group. I deadpanned at them before crossing my arms. "Let's go."

We were about to move north, noticing a stairway which seemed to be locked and covered with metal bars, but then we noticed a strange machine next to the furnace. It was a simple machine. It was rusted and dirty, but nonetheless it looked like it would work fine. It was nothing more than an iron box with strange buttons. I toyed with the buttons for a moment, yet nothing happened. It was impossible to move the machine as well, it being bolted to the floor. The use of this machine was simple- I had no fucking answer.

Rekishi awkwardly smiled my way. "Alright, let's go north. I think our last destination's up there."

"Mhm." I followed the group north, us eyeing the staircase. As expected, it was locked. There was no way for us to go upstairs, which, in that case, also meant that our chances of escape were at a bare minimum. _Well, fuck._ I frowned upon the bars and held my hands over them, pulling on it. Expectedly, nothing happened. I groaned and peeked upstairs. Nothing but darkness. I can only suppose there was a door blocking the way.

Tatsuo hummed. "Katsumi, I found the restrooms."

"Why the fuck do I care?" I said, eyeing him before looking to the right. I noticed that there were the girls and boys' restrooms. Obviously, if I had to guess, the bathrooms would look alike to those in some gas station. Small, dirty, and smelly. I didn't even need to use the restroom, my eyes targeting Tatsuo accusingly. He didn't seem to notice however, and I just sighed.

"So, this place is definitely a catastrophe!" Elise said, almost too perky at that. She held her chin high.

Airi shook her head, frowning. "Let's not think too much about that and think about the bright side- we aren't dead. Let's instead focus on maintaining good relations with one another."

I smirked at the idea. _With Victor and Nakaatsu? Hell no._ My thoughts then revolved around people such as Kanon and Naosu. They were certainly cautious of everyone, and I cannot blame them. I can only hope those two, and the others at that point, would be fine.

"Are we actually gonna be living here?" Rosetta asked, cheeks puffy. "I _cannot_ accept this!"

Rokuro barked out of agreement, though at the same time it looked as if he just wanted to say something.

Shinsuke frowned. "It's either stay here and become dolls to Rakuen herself, or kill and somehow escape."

"Why would anyone kill though?" Mizuki said through her notes. A look of disgust was written on her face. "It's not at all moral."

Amari crossed her arms, eyes flaring up in a demanding hue. "Let's focus more on learning who exactly Rakuen is and figure out a plan from there."

I cupped my chin. "Rakuen... I've never even heard about her till now."

"I don't think anyone heard about her before we all got here," the film critic said, scratching his head.

"True." Rekishi was adjusting his blazer, a serious look on his face. "Hm, I don't suppose she'll straight-up tell us who exactly she is and what exactly is her goal. To experiment on us... It's not at all a comprehensible concept."

I nodded. "Yeah, but, like, she wants to experiment on us merely because we're Ultimates." I eyed the art historian strangely. "She said that the idea of Ultimates being so-called _imperfect_ disgusts her, right? She's trying to turn us into mere slaves who'll do anything within their so-called talent. She basically wants us to live only one life, and that is the fucking life of what title we have."

Rekishi's eyes widened. He eyed me strangely, almost wanting to say something but then deciding against it. I, however, already knew what he wanted to say. I knew what the others wanted to say too, considering the looks they're throwing at me. That, itself, was- _'Why wouldn't you embrace your Ultimate title?'_

I bit into my lips and ignored the group for now, pacing myself around the floor. I didn't want to bother explaining to them. People who were conditioned to only think under Hope's Peak's agenda- I can never explain it to them. I can never explain to them that some people were pressured into becoming Ultimates, that some people only became their title merely because of a hobby and not because they desire to become that title. I can never explain anything to these people.

"So," the matchmaker began, trying to break the awkward mood in the ship. "Do you guys want to bond over some video games now?"

Mizuki voiced her thoughts with a nod, Rokuro barking as well. "Sure!"

"I'd be up for it!" Elise replied, clapping her hands together with a large smile.

Rosetta shook her head, an angry expression on her face. "No! Fairies need to rest!"

Tatsuo shook his head, beginning to walk straight to his room (I'm betting). "I'll pass on it, thank you very much."

Rekishi smiled. "No thanks, but your offer is greatly appreciated, Airi."

"I want to rest for a while," Shinsuke said, stretching his arms out. He waved to the group and began his way. "I'll pass."

Airi giggled before eyeing me. I simply shook my head as she eyed me worriedly.

Amari crossed her arms. "I'll watch over you guys then."

I watched as most of the group began to left, leaving to either rest or move into the gameroom. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I should do. I simply kicked my feet around and sighed, thinking about what I had said earlier. A cough. I looked back to find Rekishi who smiled my way.

I frowned. Honestly, I was not in the mood to speak with anyone at the moment. As someone who held very strong morals and ideals, I tend to be quite stubborn. That also means that I always tend to be a bit moody whenever my ideals doesn't go through the minds of the people. I shouldn't even be mad at my classmates. They were all (mostly) nice people, and especially Rekishi. I didn't even know why I was ignoring him.

"Kat," Rekishi began, trying to get my attention. An awkward smile was on his face. "Did you know that Jackson Pollock used to have a job cleaning statues for the Emergency Relief Bureau?"

I eyed him strangely. "What the fuck?" My lips couldn't help but curve into a smile. "Kishi, why the hell are you telling me an art fact? I already knew that one too!"

The art historian grinned, brushing back his hair. "I expected you would know that. I was just trying to make you smile, milady."

"You are _sooo_ cheesy." I chuckled, but then crossed my arms and sighed. "Well, thanks for that though."

Rekishi nodded my way before a nervous frown escaped his fair complexion. "Did I made you mad earlier? I didn't mean to eye you like that."

My eyes widened. "I knew you would ask," I mumbled, shaking my head. "No, I wasn't at you nor at anyone. I, well, I usually get moody whenever someone seems to not understand my values. I don't blame any of you guys though, so you should seriously not mind me at all."

"I see." The boy sighed, relieved. He then winked my way. "Well, Kat, you look much more like a painter's bride when you smile."

My cheeks flushed. Seriously, I've always hated it when people complimented me. "Shut it, Rekishi."

Rekishi smiled before leaving. I sighed, shaking my head out of exhaustion. Wondering what the time was, I decided it was best to take a rest. I headed over to what should be the dormitories and walked over towards my room, opening it and heading inside.

As expected, the room was not at all gorgeous. It was merely a simple brown wooden bedroom. There was a small white mattress with white sheets stacked in the middle alongside a white pillow. Merely, it was a simple makeshift bed. I frowned and eyed the other things around me. To the side I noticed a wooden basket which held, questionably, the same five more outfits that I was wearing. There was a wooden chair to the left which was next to the desk. The desk held a small lamp and a vase with one single red rose. I eyed it strangely before noticing a box at the right corner.

I walked over to the right and pulled the yellow notepad from the box.

 **"For the Ultimate Sketch Artist, Katsumi Himura,**

 **Here is a vast amount of supplies that is needed to hone your talent as a sketch artist. Inside of this box will contain the needed ingredients to help you reach your utmost potential, and, well, at the same time... Take away your boredom.**

 **\- Rakuen"**

I frowned and quickly crumpled the note, throwing it to the side. Eyeing the box, I forfeited my stubborness and opened it, tearing apart the tape and using my strength to pull the flaps open.

 _What the fuck._ To my utter shock, there was a vast amount of sketchbooks inside of the box. Alongside the sketchbooks were various types of erasers and pencils, then charcoal and different types of sketch utensils to add on to the shock factor. _I can finally finish my commissions!_ My heart instantly jumped and I couldn't help but smile, almost wanting to hug the box itself before realizing who actually gave it to me. I quickly closed the box and sat on the bed, screaming into the pillow.

"Fuck." I said, staring at the empty ceiling. _Rakuen's definitely trying to keep us forever. Shit, what should we do? I'm so exhausted. If only Reina and Osami were here... Mom, dad... My siblings..._

I eyed the clock which ticked atop from the door. It was about five in the afternoon. I groaned. I should've been taking my nap by now. Closing my eyes, I slowly began to drift to sleep.

* * *

I didn't know how, but Rakuen was sitting on top of me. I was awoken suddenly by her presence, and being the hateful person I am, I quickly tried to kick her out of my sight. She merely jumped back with a graceful step, eyeing me with a smile. "Dinner's ready."

I glared at the doll, standing on my two feet as she was right at the doorway. "You didn't have to greet me personally, stupid doll!"

"Please eat if you're hungry." Rakuen continued to smile and somehow, the door opened. She left my sight within seconds after speaking. Even when I ran to open the door and charge my way out, she disappeared. She was gone.

I didn't want to move, but my stomach betrayed me. It was grumbling, begging me to move. I groaned and slapped my stomach, heading my way into the mess hall. There, I found everyone else, eyeing me strangely.

"What?" I said, frowning. "Did a bird just dropped shit on me?"

"No, it's not that," Rekishi said, smiling. "It's just... I think you're going to be quite disappointed in the food, Kat."

I repeated my statement again. "What?"

Naosu worriedly eyeballed me. "T-the food isn't good, at all."

"This food only serves to be eaten by a lowly pest," Victor murmured under his lips, glaring at the food.

Worriedly, I took the empty seat, sitting next to Rokuro who barked at me. He was trying his best to comfort me, I could tell. From the distance I could see another empty seat in front of me, lips curving to a frown before I noticed Kanon in the corner. "Um..." I grabbed the attention of the others. "Why is she there?"

"She doesn't want us near her," Mamoru said, sipping into what I noticed was very chunky porridge. "Leave her be."

"But..." I eyed her worriedly, but once I did she jumped and hid herself. I did not know why she was avoiding us, but I decided to keep the question for later and looked down at the plate on my side. It was porridge. Simple, chunky porridge. To the side was a smaller plate with a biscuit and corn on the cob, then to the left side being a simple glass of water. My lips curved to a frown. "This is dinner?"

"Seems more like breakfast," Tatsuo deadpanned.

I slowly grabbed ahold of the wooden spoon, using it to take a spoonful of the porridge. I sipped into it, my stomach suddenly wanting to cry. The porridge was a horrible mixture of hot and cold. It was too chunky, yet at the same time it didn't even taste like anything. It was just water and untasteful ingredients. There was nothing special about the porridge at all.

And even the biscuit and corn wasn't that tasteful. The corn tasted like nothing, only the taste of bland water to be found. The biscuit was hard, almost as hard as rock. The only thing that even tasted decent was, unsurprisingly, the water.

"Well, shit!" I laughed sarcastically. "Rakuen's definitely fucking with us."

"I mean, it was obvious in the first place." Nakaatsu crossed his arms, then a smug smirk appearing on his lips. "Well, if you lowly humans are desperate to escape, then why not follow Rakuen's words and kill someone to ease your stress?"

"What?" Rosetta's eyes widened.

"We would never do that!" Elise glared at the boy. "Don't say stuff like that!"

Rei crossed her arms, eyeing Nakaatsu with displeasure. "I would not want to hear you say that again."

"He does have a point though." Victor cupped his chin, pondering. "It won't take long for a measly peasant to snap and kill someone, now would it?"

"Can you not?" Akahoshi bit into his lips.

I frowned. _Fuck, why are we even arguing about this? Fucking Nakaatsu!_ I slammed my fists down onto the table. "Can you all just shut up?! You're making the food taste worse than it already is!"

The whole class was silent.

I was about to speak again until Rakuen suddenly opened the door. Her uncanny smile was still apparent on her lips. "My poor Ultimates, do not fight! It's inappropiate for people of your status to be fighting."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, can you shut up? It's your fault in the first place! You're treating us like shit!"

"Am I?" Rakuen threw on an innocent look. "Anyways, I am here to inform you Ultimates that the experiments will begin tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Rosetta's face began to pale.

Rakuen nodded. "Yes, it is tomorrow. Each of you will be put into the experiment lab for me to experiment you guys on. It isn't anything sinister, but it's simply more of a way to push you Ultimates further into either becoming numb and prosper further into your talent as Ultimates, or fall into despair and kill someone." She then stopped, smiling. "But, well, if you were to kill now, then the experiments will stop easily and there is a chance for you to escape, alone. The experiments will only stop if someone kills another. Suicides do not count."

"Escape? Alone?" Rei frowned. "What're you talking about?"

The doll chuckled. "Well, if someone were to kill someone, like I mentioned earlier, then a trial-like situation would commence. You all would have to figure out who killed that person and call them out in a _class trial._ If you all failed to figure out who killed the victim, then the murderer will get to escape this cruise ship, alive and alone. You all would be stuck here. Understand?"

Everyone was silent.

"I'm glad you all seem to understand!" Rakuen clapped her hands together. "Well, now that that's settled with, I will take my leave. Goodbye."

And just as she appeared, she disappeared the same.

I gritted my teeth, and before I was able to say anything, a question rose into the air that made me shudder.

"So if we kill, we could escape this place?"

* * *

 **I'm seeing, from the poll, that Katsumi and Kanon are the most popular so far! I'm glad you guys are liking Katsumi! Surprisingly, Nakaatsu is also a popular choice. I guess it's because of how big of a jerk he is lol. I'm also glad you all like Rakuen so far! Anyways, hoped you guys love the chapter! There's gonna be a lot to come in the future! Woot woot!**

 **Also, if you hadn't already, please vote on the poll on who would you like to see in the ftes!**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: Glad you liked it! Yeah, I hoped Shinsuke and Katsumi's relationship would stay stable for the most part. Thanks for the support!**

 **FairyBookworm: Lol, yeah, poor Victor! XD I'm glad I did your boy justice! Yeah, horror stories tend to swing toward experiments and dolls. Then I hope you enjoyed this one!**

 **RioA: Yeah, nice to see your impressions friend! XD I'm glad you like Katsumi too! Hope you enjoy the next things to come.**

 **Sparkquill: Yeah, reviews and notifications were bugging out. I was only able to see you and the others' reviews from my email too. ): Haha, you can thank my friend for pestering me to write faster XD Glad you're loving it so far! Also, seeing your first impressions very much interests me! Glad to see what you think of the characters so far~ Yeah I chose Rakuen over Monokuma because Monokuma would not fit this sort of story, especially if I'm trying to make it a bit over the top dark. Also, yeah to mention it, I'm glad you're loving Mizuki and that she reminds you of your OC!**

 **liammarklh88: Glad you're glad! Ooh, well, what a coincidence! Maybe Katsumi and your protagonist are best friends? Love your first impressions, and glad I portrayed Rekishi dude correctly! Lol, don't worry, he'll be fine~**

 **Agrael: Hoorah! Glad you like Rakuen! Lol, everyone always cry over deaths, and I love Rokuro too. ): Yeah, they're all eccentric in their own right! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **aWasTooShort: Lol, thank my friend for bugging me all day to update. Glad you felt the creepiness too, and also thanks for liking Rakuen! Yeah, I'm loving your impressions, and it's nice to see what you think about the characters so far! Glad I portrayed Rokuro well~**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Yeah, glad you noticed the world building! I was hoping people would recongize how different Hope's Peak here is. Yeah, Rakuen's name is soooo unfitting! I find it nice that you'd search up on what her name means since it actually holds an ironic meaning to it lol. Lol love your impressions!**

 **Fluffytail15: No problem, Rosetta's an interesting girl! Lol, glad you enjoy a lot of the characters!**


	5. Chapter 1-1

**Ah, I'm here! I'm so sorry about not posting for months already! I was busy with life, especially concerning my mental health and the need for motivation... I'm so sorry about not posting for this long of a time DX Hopefully, I'll be able to get myself together and post more frequently. You guys do not deserve the treatment of me not telling you the status of this story, and I am so sorry about that.**

* * *

Somehow, I don't know why, but after I handed Osami the letter and the duo were able to become lovey-dovey (with Osami flustering most of the time and Reina laughing at him), I ended up becoming involved in their strange antics.

They somehow considered me a friend, and although it was mainly Reina who was dragging me alongside the road, Osami didn't mind having me around either. It was as if we were some strange trio of friends. The three musketeers, I think?

Anyways, we hung out most of our first year at Hope's Peak. When the second year came, the same thing happened.

The second years were always expected to guide the first years around the school. I don't know why the third years can't do it, but I supposed it was because of their so-called "special agenda". I never knew what the third years would do other than mess around and laugh all day, but I decided against asking the headmaster about it.

I knew why Reina and Osami were chosen to lead a certain group of freshmen. The duo were both elected to the student council- Reina being the president while Osami being the treasurer. I had no idea why I was forced into the tour group of death (as the freshmen Hope's Peak threw were troublemakers), but I figured the duo wanted me to suffer with them.

"Alright!" Reina happily clapped her hands, eyeing the group of freshmen who eyed her strangely. I inwardly facepalmed with a tired sigh, Osami doing the same thing somehow. "Are you ready for the best tour in the world?!"

"Woo!" I had no idea why one of the freshmen was so motivated, however considering she was the Ultimate Spokesperson, I figured one of her traits would be such. Then again, I noticed the devilish smirk hidden beneath her cute physique.

"Yup, that's the spirit!" The fashion designer grinned widely before throwing an arm around her boyfriend, teasing his flustered face with a cocky smirk. She was toying with the red ribbon tied around the boy's collar. "You should be more like these freshmen here, Osami~"

"R-Reina!" The boy was blushing profusely, his charcoal-colored cowlick somehow sticking up to the air. "A-at least not in front of the kids!"

"They're not our kids, are they?" Reina chuckled seductively before suddenly kissing him on the lips. "You're so cute."

I deadpanned at the duo before eyeing the freshmen. Yes, they were, of course, uncomfortable. "Want to leave the two lovebirds?"

I left with the freshmen and toured around the school, the duo catching up with tired breaths. The first floor would be where the freshmen would live and walk onto. It wasn't as if they weren't allowed to move to the upper floors, but it was more of, well, sort of a title enforcement. "You are a freshman so you must stand here" sort of thing or whatnot. Honestly, I've always despised how Hope's Peak would separate the three classes altogether. It's as if they only considered the third years to be "the best class".

Anyways, I digress. Although the years were seperated, the rooms between my year and the freshmen were similar. The common core rooms would be around the left side, the facilities would be on the middle, and the "special electives" (which I would call "classes that force you to hone your title") on the right. It was the same for my class and the freshmen, but the third years' floor was different.

The third years were separated by their own classrooms. There would be classes only ran by one teacher, and that one teacher would run the same sixteen or so students in a classroom. Yes, those students would live in that classroom for the entire year until graduation. I don't know why they would suggest the idea at the final year where the people in the classroom may not even know one another, but I supposed they wanted to allow the third years to just mess around.

The first and second years' floors were designed the same, but the third years' were different. That was all I could say to describe the tour.

"And… I guess we're done!"

* * *

I tossed and turned on the piece of shit which would be labeled in this ship as a "bed", but before I knew it horns blew throughout the ship. I could only assume that was the bell to wake us up. I didn't even sleep that much, honestly. I slept between cycles, sleeping for thirty minutes, waking up thirty minutes later, and so forth and so forth.

"Fuck." I groaned, feeling my body ache. I wanted to roll myself to the side, yet I found myself falling straight to the floor. The ground thud, and now my body was aching like shit. "Fucking Rakuen…"

A knock on the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" I didn't even know who was at the door, but I couldn't bother to care and stood up. I walked over and turned the handle, the door creaking to find myself staring straight at Mizuki. I frowned, though my expression was nonetheless thin since I honestly cannot get over how adorable the blogger was. "What's up?"

"You look like you haven't slept at all." Mizuki signed to me with an awkward, goofy smile. "You just woke up?"

I nodded. I did not want to amuse Mizuki on the fact that I looked like shit. I could tell there were dark circles under my eyes and that my lips were chapped, after all. "Yeah, why?"

Mizuki pursed her lips, hands touching her crutches nervously. The blogger hesitantly began to sign. "You should look outside. Rakuen posted the times when we'll each be experimented on."

My eyes instantly widened. "What? Where?"

Fearing the worst, I followed Mizuki outside of the girls' dormitories as I was then led to the front of the experiment door, a few people having surrounded the door. I frowned as I walked closer, then noticing a paper having been taped at the top of the iron door. The paper was titled in bold red, stating "Appointment Times" in a crayon, childish font.

I moved into the crowd and looked at the list, eyes instantly widening and nose wrinkling in disgust. "Shit…"

The list came in this order:

 **1\. Airi Hisakawa - 12:30 AM**

 **2\. Akahoshi Tashiaki - 1:00 PM**

 **3\. Elise Watanabe - 1:30 PM**

 **4\. Victor Aimoto - 2:00 PM**

 **5\. Rei Miyazaki - 2:30 PM**

 **6\. Shinsuke Akiyama - 3:00 PM**

 **7\. Naosu Kurushimi - 3:30 PM**

 **8\. Mizuki Yuuki - 4:00 PM**

 **9\. X6 "Rokuro" - 4:30 PM**

 **10\. Kanon Miyamoto - 5:00 PM**

 **11\. Rekishi Hakubutsu - 5:30 PM**

 **12\. Mamoru Katayama - 6:00 PM**

 **13\. Amari Ichido - 6:30 PM**

 **14\. Nakaatsu Miyake - 7:00 PM**

 **15\. Akari "Rosetta" Yumi - 7:30 PM**

 **16\. Tatsuo Akiyama - 8:00 PM**

 **17\. Katsumi Himura - 8:30 PM**

I was the last to go. Though that should be relieving in itself, it wasn't. The fact was- we were still going to be experimented on.

"This is fucking sick!" I cried, punching the wall. "I can't believe this!"

"C-calm down!" Elise was grabbing ahold of my arm, trying to calm me down. "You'll just hurt yourself!"

I bit my lips, shaking my head. "I don't care! I'm going to kill Rakuen."

"Save your energy later." Victor scoffed, eyeing me in disgust. I could tell he was judging me by the second. "Complaining won't get you anywhere."

I frowned. I couldn't stand how pompous he could be. "Yeah? So what?"

"Hmph, peasant."

I watched as Victor left the area, possibly to go to the mess hall. I sighed. I just couldn't believe this was happening. My luck was getting worse by the second, and I was completely sure of it.

"So, um, Airi, you're going to go first."

I could hear Elise trying to make small talk with the matchmaker. _Honestly, having a conversation about this is definitely not appropriate, girlfriend._

Airi's eyes widened, but she quickly shook it off and laughed. "Don't worry about it! It's only gonna happen in a few hours. I'm not gonna spend this time worrying about it. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Well, that's nice for you!" Rosetta puffed her cheeks out. "But for me, I want to go home! I hate Rakuen!"

Elise scratched her head. "Don't worry. Let's just stay calm, alright?"

Mamoru snorted. "Yeah, agreed."

"Are we just gonna let this slide though?" I frowned, crossing my arms. "Who knows what she'll do to us! We need to get out of here."

I could hear a chuckle escaping from Nakaatsu's lips. He was smiling his prideful smirk as always. "You say that, but what can be done?"

"And you say that, but can you do anything about this then?"

Nakaatsu frowned. "What a foolish girl."

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't care less about the mythologist's death stare. "Just shut up and leave if you're just going to degrade everyone."

"Hmph."

Rekishi smiled awkwardly. The tension was killing him. "Um, care for an art fact?"

"No, I'm good," Tatsuo replied, fiddling with his fingers. "I would rather eat."

"Ah, right." Mizuki felt her stomach. It was grumbling. She smiled and signed to me with a meek giggle. "I'm actually pretty hungry."

"Aren't we all?" I sighed, forfeiting. I was hungry as well, and to continue thinking about either Rakuen or assholes 1 and 2 (since technically Shinsuke isn't that bad of a guy, so asshole 3 is out of the list) made my stomach grumble even harder. I nodded my head. "Alright, let's eat then."

I walked down with Mizuki into the mess hall, and as expected I found Nakaatsu and Victor inside. I honestly would've expected them to leave into their own world of 'asshole-ness', but they were human too. I guess assholes could be hungry? I didn't know, and I took my seat next to Mizuki.

I could see that our meals had already been laid out for us. A simple piece of bread, some oatmeal, and a glass of water. "Wow," I said out loud, sarcastic. "Great. What a five-star meal this is."

I could hear a chuckle escaping the room. It came from Rekishi, having walked into the room with the other Ultimates. The art historian was trying his damn hardest to lighten the mood- I could tell. "Well, I certainly wouldn't mind a five-star oatmeal."

"Yeah, sure." I rolled my eyes. "There's no such thing as a five-star oatmeal."

Rekishi coughed. "I'll make it then."

I yet again rolled my eyes, but nonetheless smiled. He truly was a dork, and that somehow made me happier than I would want to admit it.

Everyone else came inside of the 'room' later as the others started eating. Honestly, it wasn't the best meal ever- like, no shit, Sherlock- but it was better than nothing. I would hate to starve in this shithole.

"Katsumi." I looked over to Mizuki, the girl signing to me. "How much food do you think Rakuen has in this place?"

 _Oh. Right._

Fuck. I did not want to worry about that. Not only did we have to suffer through being 'conditioned' or whatever shit Rakuen thought of, but we had to worry about our own bodies. Great.

"Well…" I scratched my head, unsure of how to respond. "Surely, Rakuen has a entire room filled to the brim with food. I would hate to think that the only food we have is inside that 'kitchen' or so."

Mizuki smiled. "Hopefully!"

I smiled awkwardly. Sometimes, just sometimes, I wished that I had the same optimism as Mizuki or Rekishi had. Being pessimistic is not good for your health, or so I've heard.

Spoonfuls of oatmeal went straight into my throat. I gobbled it up in a flash. Not even an hour had passed, and yet I had finished. How tragic.

I brought my hand to my stomach.

… Yeah, it was still rumbling. Great, what a way to start the day.

"Hey," I said, making the others notice me, "You think that we can get seconds? At least more bread?"

Airi was the first to speak, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not sure about that. Hopefully though! I'm really hungry."

 _Hungry because she doesn't want to ponder on that 'conditioning' shit, I bet._

"Right…" Rekishi looked around the area, scanning. His eyes then stopped upon Kanon. "Don't you want to join us, dear?"

Kanon shook her head. She was hidden in the corner, eating her meal. It was such a pitiful sight that I can't help but sigh.

Poor girl. I wondered whether or not she was faking being an assassin, or if her personality itself was fake. Assassins can't be this… docile, right?

"I wonder if we can ask Rakuen…"

I nodded my head, Naosu having spoken most likely to herself. The medical patient's curiosity did rub off on me. I wondered the same thing as well.

Elise waved a friendly hand. "Maybe we should try calling for Rakuen?"

"Are you certain that would work?" Oh god, here comes our asshole Nakaatsu. "You are naive to think such a thought."

"We can try," Elise countered, frowning. She then stopped, cleared her throat, and began waving her hands high into the air. "Rakuen! Can we please have seconds?"

Sadly, to my expectations, nothing happened. It was dead silence.

I quickly looked over to the mythologist. "If you want to laugh at Elise, stop. I will punch you if you do."

Nakaatsu frowned, and was now silent as well.

I proudly smiled at this achievement, then focusing on the the fencer. "Rakuen is naturally an ass, I assume."

Mizuki smiled back at this, then looking down to Rokuro. The dog had finished his meal a long time ago, now happily barking at the group. "Food's food!"

"The food here stinks!" Rosetta pouted.

Shinsuke raised a brow, baffled. Still, he commented on the topic itself, "I guess…"

"Let's be positive!" Airi cried, eyeing the group.

"Don't force us to be someone we don't want to be," Amari said, blunt as always.

Airi pursed her lips. She looked down at the table.

"So, uh…" Naosu perked her head up. "W-what now?"

I frowned. This forced conversation is definitely forced.

Slamming my hands down on the table, I declared myself as officially done with this entire place.

Once I gotten out of the mess hall, I let out a huge sigh.

 _Alright, what the hell should I do? I don't even know what the goddamn time here is._

I eyed the view ahead of me. Not a pretty sight, I assure you.

 _Oh, right! Isn't there a television inside of the therapy room?_

Suddenly, I had my hopes up. I knew this was stupid, but I just needed to check if the television worked. I needed some form of entertainment in my life, and I am not letting this slip past me.

I headed my way straight into the therapy room. I creaked opened the door and walked inside, eyes fixated on the television. Involuntarily, a strange cackle escaped my throat. I sounded like a witch for sure. A witch who wanted to spend her live watching television.

I quickly looked over the television, finding the on/off button. Smirking like a crazed maniac, I immediately pressed onto the button and sat down in front of the device.

Three. Two. One.

The television flickered on.

"Aw hell yeah!"

I fistbumped the air. The screen was in black and white, but honestly, who gives a fuck? There was finally some entertainment in this shithole, and I am not going to let Rakuen ruin my need for entertainment.

Then again, yes, I will try to find a way out of here. First of all, I need to catch a break. I need to mentally rest myself, and watching television is just that "rest" I needed.

What the television was showing me was a classic. If you haven't watched anything from Studio Ghibli, then you wouldn't know what I was talking about. Totoro was just a mere classic in my eyes, and you cannot dissuade me from claiming it as such.

Sure, the black and white screen was irritating as well as the slightly skewed noises, but it had to do.

Now, I spent about approximately two or three hours watching the entire movie, from opening to credits.

I laughed and I cried. Truly, no matter how times I watched it, my heart still melted in the end.

"What a classic…" I was rubbing my eyes, then noticing the television flickering. It seemed like another movie was beginning to play.

The title on the screen was a bit blocky, but nonetheless I was able to read it to myself.

"Oh!" My eyes widened. "Isn't that-"

"That's 'Princess Kaguya', right?"

I frowned. I turned my head around to find Mamoru, the attorney yawning as he groggily headed my way. "What're you doing here?"

"Probably for the same reason." The boy rubbed his eyes. "I wanted to look around this ship for a bit."

"Oh…" I was not investigating, sorry to tell. Nonetheless, I forced a smile. "I doubt there's anything much here."

Mamoru slowly scanned the room, nodding. He was fiddling with the rings on his body. "I could see that. This room does seem to serve its purpose as a 'therapical room' though, at least somewhat."

"I guess…"

The attorney then deadpanned. "You do know that we have an entertainment room, right?"

 _Shit. I completely forgot about that._

I averted my gaze.

Silence.

Honestly, I did not know what to say. I thought long and hard before continuing, only a minute having past between my pondering and Mamoru's observing. "So, uh, how's everyone? I mean… I shouldn't care, but y'know."

Mamoru snorted. He was amused by how flustered I looked, and honestly that made me glare his way. "They're doing peachy… well, except for Airi."

My eyes widened. My heart literally jumped. "Wait, she already went?!"

"She did a few minutes ago," Mamoru replied, scratching his head, "Rakuen went out to her personally. I was walking by when I noticed them talking, and after a minute- bam! Airi was gone with the doll."

I couldn't help but hold my breath. A sudden wave of worry had overwhelmed me, and I hated it. It was hard to breathe like this.

"So, uh…" The attorney eyed me carefully. "I'm bored. You want to talk for a bit?"

"Wait, what?" I deadpanned. I couldn't help but choke a laugh. "Dude, you just told me that Airi's been taken away by the bitch herself!"

"Yeah? That's why I asked." Mamoru sighed. "It's a good distraction. You'll just stress yourself if you think about this whole thing."

"You think?" I stared into the attorney's sea blue eyes for a while, then sighed. "Okay, fine. We can chat."

Mamoru grinned, slyly throwing me a thumbs-up. I rolled my eyes, but laughed. Amusement was overwhelming my entire face. Mr. Attorney wasn't a bad person at all, and I can honestly say that I'll find myself enjoying his company in the long run.

… Well, that is, if we get out of this shitfest and get out of here alive.

"So," I began, crossing my arms. I snidely smirked at Mamoru. "You go on cruise ships often?"

Mamoru was laying down comfortably (almost too comfortably) on the ground, hands over his head. He was staring up at the pale colored ceiling. "Not really. I thought this trip will help relax me, but somehow it managed to do the very opposite of that."

I snorted.

Yeah, I know, not very ladylike of me, but when did I give a damn? Never, that's what.

"So, Katsumi," the attorney's gaze was now fixated on me. "Do you have any hobbies outside of sketching things?"

"It sounds like you expect me to say writing or coloring or whatnot." A roll of the eyes. "For starters, I do have a bit of an interest in not dying."

"Really?" Mamoru raised an eyebrow, interested. "I never knew that."

"Yeah, right?" I chuckled. "But for real, other than sketching, I do like playing video games and I have a bit of an interest in fashion."

"Fashion?"

"H-hey, you make it sound like that's surprising!" I glared at the boy, not realizing that he was teasing me. Having noticed his smirk a little too late, I quickly turned away. My cheeks were blushing red, I could tell. "I mean, I know not all girls are into fashion and all that, but with the friends and classmates I'm usually surrounded with…"

"I see."

My eyes widened. "E-enough about that! What about you? Do you have any other hobbies than… er, resting here and making fun of me?"

"Hm…" Mamoru suddenly sat up straight, his tousled hair almost flying in the air. "Other than being an attorney, I guess… chess?"

"You guess?" I frowned. "Uh, anything other than chess then?"

The attorney thought for a while, then suddenly snapping his fingers. A lazy smile escaped his lips. "I can play the French horn."

"Really?" Honestly, I've never actually paid much attention to musical instruments, so I was in the dark here. "Sounds interesting."

Mamoru's gaze was focused on me. A moment passed between our awkward staring.

"Do you even know what a French horn looks like?"

I immediately blushed. "Maybe, maybe not? I-I don't know! I probably might've seen one in a symphony or whatever, b-but I'm not that familiar with names!"

"That… actually makes sense." The attorney was cupping his chin, nodding to himself. "I heard that artists are more tune into appearances rather than terminology itself."

"I mean, I rather not associate people with just their names…"

Mamoru chuckled. "That makes sense."

A few seconds passed in silence.

I groaned. I quickly looked around for a way to avoid the awkwardness that will (and had) inevitably come our way, and sadly it was turned to the television. "Uh, wanna watch some TV with me?"

The attorney eyed me for a moment, but nodded. "That's fine."

And so Mamoru and I were watching television together. 'Princess Kaguya' was playing, and there was nothing to be said between us. Mamoru was staring at the screen with a slight lack of interest, and I was completely captivated by the scenes being played out one by one.

Yeah, there wasn't anything romantic between us. It was just two complete weirdos who had nothing else to do. That was all it was.

I wanted to rid of this awkwardness, after all. Even if we didn't talk, at least I could devour myself in this movie.

I don't know how much time had passed, but once the credits started rolling Mamoru stood up and stretched his arms. A yawn escaped his mouth, and after rubbing his eyes he groggily left the room.

Seemed like he was done spending time here. I think I should do something else too.

I stood up and walked over to the television. Hearing the credits roll for a second, I then turned off the device and headed outside of the room.

Back to misery I go.

Like always (though I only been here like recently), the hallways were as cold and rusty as always.

I scanned the area.

 _Well, it seems like no one's around-_

"Katsumi?"

I yelped, jumping. In front of me was Naosu, the patient eyeing me worriedly. Quickly realizing that she must've felt guilty for scaring me, I immediately smiled and winked. "What's up?"

Naosu averted her gaze. She was cupping her hands and moving place to place. "D-did you find R-Rakuen yet?"

"Rakuen?" I frowned. "Why do you need her?"

"T-the experiment…" Naosu shuddered. "I-I don't know if I'm supposed to wait there are something…"

I observed the patient. Her messy dark blue hair was moving to and fro to her rigid, shaky movements. A sigh escaped my breath. "Don't worry about that. I think Rakuen will come get you anyways. Why? You're not eager for the shit she brings us, right?"

Naosu shook her head, hurt from what I said. "No, it's not that. I… I would rather get it done than wait longer…"

"Ah, I see." Honestly, I rather just flip Rakuen off and run to my death, but whatever floats her boat. "How's the others? Y'know… the ones who already went."

"O-oh." Naosu paled. "Airi's in her room… I think the people who went are trying to recover… S-Shinsuke should be done soon."

 _Oh, right._

I had almost forgotten that Shinsuke was before Naosu. Honestly, I just tried to forget about everything Rakuen had given us.

My heart started pounding erratically. I didn't know why, but a sudden surge of worry overcame me. I guess you could say that I was worried because I cared for the mathematician, but no- this was different.

I was worried because of what horrors might be inside of that room.

"Naosu," I said, calling out the girl's name, "You wanna head over to the lab and check on Shinsuke? Maybe he's done and is with Rakuen."

"Oh." Naosu bobbed her head. "S-sure…"

With that answer settled in, I quickly rushed over to the laboratory. It was a quick and short-lived walk, but nonetheless a tiring one. Once we reached those rusted doors, they opened.

Well, creaked opened.

"Shinsuke!"

I was most likely going to either greet him or make a snappy comment, but I didn't.

I was thrown into horror.

Shinsuke's face was entirely white. Even snow cannot describe how white his face was. He was devoid of life, azure eyes dull. Cold sweat had covered his entire face, and his footsteps were heavy and dragged as he moved towards us.

"S-Shinsuke…" Naosu pursed her lips, unable to hold back a squeaky tone. "W-what happened…?"

Shinsuke stopped. He lifted his head, eyes staring down upon us.

"Hey…" I did not know what to say. "Shinny babe, you good?"

There was no response. Instead, he continued to stare at me.

"Uuuh…" I couldn't help but force a chuckle. This was too strange for me to comprehend. "Shinsuke, what's one plus one?"

A dragged step towards me.

"Dude?" My heart was throbbing. "Do you need water? Food? We can take you to the mess hall-"

He suddenly grabbed ahold of my shoulders, shaking me. His gaze was intense as he stared into my eyes, almost straight into my soul.

"Katsumi," he began, his voice hushed and desperate. He was breathless. "You need to get out of here. Rakuen… She's-!"

"Oh, is our little mathematician trying to dissuade people?"

My eyes widened. I looked ahead of Shinsuke to find that accursed doll standing in front of the door, smiling innocently.

"You." I grabbed ahold of Shinsuke's hands, gently moving them down. My entire attention was now fixated on that damn doll. "What the fuck are you doing to us?"

"Experiment." Rakuen's voice was sharp, cutting straight into my throat. "I'm just here to make you all motivated to kill. Nothing special."

Naosu began to shake.

"Oh!" The doll looked over to the girl. "You're already here? I'm glad you are eager, sweetheart. Please come inside. I'll be with you for a moment."

Naosu was silent. Her breath stalled, she began walking slowly into the room.

I grabbed her sleeve firmly.

"Don't go," I said, stern. "I hate myself for fucking stalling for everyone else before you, but I'm not letting you get in there."

"K-Katsumi…"

Rakuen frowned, now staring my way. She took a careful step forward. "Please do not try to break the rules here. I must subject you all equally to my conditioning in order to bring forth the needed results, so please step back."

I scoffed. "Who the fuck cares about you? You're just subjecting us all to your torture!"

"Katsumi, p-please…" Naosu was shaking her head. "I'll be fine… Please don't make things worse for yourself… Y-you might get hurt…"

"Who cares about that?" I bit hard into my lip. "Fuck Rakuen!"

Rakuen sighed, clicking her tongue. She was wagging her finger back and forth. "Katsumi, Katsumi," she began, her tone sad, "You really are making it bad for everyone, especially yourself. Do I have to personally teach you a lesson?"

"I'm just doing what's right," I countered.

"N-Naosu…" Shinsuke was staring at Naosu. He was sweating bullets. "It's a nightmare in there."

Naosu shook her head. "I-it's fine. E-everyone needs to go, right? It's my turn, so…"

"That's right!" The doll giggled. "Now hurry up and head inside."

Releasing my grip forcibly, Naosu rushed inside of the room. I was unable to save her.

"No…" I could hear Shinsuke from behind. The boy was slowly inching away from the scene, but it was obvious that he was worried. "S-she's going to die…"

"I see we have things settled." Rakuen smiled, happy with the results. She was now throwing me a mocking expression of pity and guilt. "Don't worry. Your time will come soon. Don't be impatient."

I was unable to counter her as she headed inside of the room, locking the doors behind her.

I was at a loss for words. Immense guilt had overwhelmed my system, my entire body frozen and still.

 _Shit. Just what the fuck is Rakuen doing inside there? If Shinsuke looks like shit, then the others before him…_

I shuddered. I did not want to think about it.

 _Fuck, what should I do? I don't think Shinsuke and the others before wanna talk right now. Maybe I should ask the others what we can do to get out of this dump._

I ran over to the list, checking who was left. I obviously knew that I was last, but I did not remember who else were left.

 _We're halfway through… Mizuki! I should ask her._

A sudden idea running through my head, I dashed over to Mizuki's room. I knocked on the door, impatiently tapping my foot on the ground.

 _Please be here. Please be here please be here…_

The door clicked opened.

"Hello?"

A smile escaped my lips. "Mizuki!"

"Oh!" The blogger was shocked, her grip on the door suddenly falling. "Katsumi?"

I sheepishly chuckled. "Yeah. Uh… So, how are you holding up?"

Mizuki giggled, though it was forced. I could tell simply from how awkward her facial expressions and hand gestures were. Her signings were not confident. "I'm fine. I'm a little bit worried about the others."

"I think we all are." I sighed. "Uh… Airi and the others don't accept company right now, right?"

Mizuki shook her head, depressed. "Not at the moment. I tried asking Akahoshi a while ago, but he didn't answer."

"Oh…" I frowned. "Do you know what Rakuen's doing there though?"

Mizuki cupped her hands. "Sadly not. I do hope that we'll be able to find a way to stop this."

"Yeah. To be honest, that's why I came to you." I scratched my head awkwardly, having noticed the blogger's interested look. "Do you have any ideas on what we could do to counter Rakuen?"

"Unfortunately not." The girl was automatically dejected. "I'm sorry. I must've disappointed you."

"N-no, it's fine!" I forced a sweet smile. "I mean, yeah, I was hoping you had something, but it's fine."

Mizuki thought to herself. A few seconds passed. "Maybe if we can find the steering wheel?"

"We need to get through this stupid dump here first." I groaned, shaking my head. "Rakuen blocked off any way of escape. No doubt that the steering wheel is at the top of this ship."

"Yeah…" Mizuki sighed audibly. "Is there a way for us to get upstairs?"

"If we find a way out of the blockage, then yeah." This pessimistic atmosphere was killing me, and obviously it was killing Mizuki too. I had to put an end to this. "Ahem! Well, maybe with the combined forces of asshole-ry, maybe Nakaatsu and Victor can break through it."

Mizuki laughed, amused. Her eyes were shining in joy. "Sounds like a smart idea."

"Yeah, I know." I smirked. "But let's tackle this logically. Maybe Akahoshi, Elise, and Rei could break through somehow. Mamoru's pretty buff too I guess…"

"I wish that was the case, but I think Rakuen would know that." The blogger was still. She stopped signing, now sighing vocally. "Hopefully though, that isn't the case!"

"Right…" I scratched my head. "Uh, well, guess I should take a rest. I'm kinda sleepy. See you later?"

Mizuki giggled. "Of course!"

I smiled back. "We can ask the others about what to do later as well."

"Yeah!"

Confident in that plan (despite how flawed it was), I headed over to my room and locked the door. I instantly threw myself over the so-called "bed".

 _Everyday is gonna be a pain if we're going to suffer like this… Shit, I wonder if Mizuki can come up with anything. Maybe even Assholes 1 and 2 could come up with something…_

 _I just want to go home and escape this trauma._

I was more sleepy than I thought, and within minutes I fell into sleep.

* * *

Well, obviously, I did not know how long I was asleep. Maybe I could've slept longer.

I would've actually. I know that I would've slept longer if it weren't for an object of mass on my stomach. It was so fucking noticeable the moment you inched to awakeness that my dreams about fluffy bunnies rolling on rollerblades were short lived.

"Ow!" My eyes shot open. Whatever was on top of my stomach was definitely heavy. "W-what the?!"

On top of me was Rakuen, the doll kicking her legs up. Her hands were to her chin, her smile rested peacefully on her face.

"What the fuck?!" I immediately jumped up, Rakuen falling down to the floor. I was screaming. "Were you watching me sleep or something?!"

"What's wrong with that?" Rakuen retorted, brushing the dust off from her clothes. "I'm a girl, and you're a girl. There's nothing wrong with me watching you, right? You're not here to call me a pervert, right?"

"Y-you…" My fists were shaking furiously. "What the fuck do you want?"

"It's about 8:30, and you know what that means?"

I stopped. I was baffled.

A few seconds passed.

My face paled.

"Oh." My breath stalled. I was almost about to scream for a second time before quickly regaining my composure. Instead, I merely looked down at the doll, frowning. "Tatsuo's done?"

"Yes, that's right!" Rakuen giggled, throwing her hands up. "That means you're next, missy!"

I froze for a second. She was right, and I had been thrown aback by that.

"H-hell no." I forced myself to stand firm. I told myself to not back down, and to let Rakuen order me around was a rule that needed to be broken. "I'm not gonna do your stupid experiment or shit!"

"Oh, really?" Rakuen frowned. "But wouldn't you think that it's nice for you to share the pain with everyone else? An Ultimate like you should stick to your peers."

I snorted. "Fuck you. You're not making me do this! I'll get the fuck out of here with everyone else, and put you to rest!"

"Don't be mean…" Rakuen sighed, shaking her head discouragingly. "If you continue to argue against me, I'll have to bring you there by force."

"What the fuck can a doll like you do?" I retorted, crossing my arms. "Just fucking leave me be! I should've told everyone to defy you earlier! You're hurting Naosu, Shinsuke, and the others! Airi and the others won't leave their rooms!"

The doll smiled. "I could say that means that my progress is doing quite well."

"What the hell?" I smiled snidely. "You're just a sicko, aren't you?"

"Does it matter?" Rakuen sighed. "Now, please follow me to the lab."

I rolled my eyes, standing firm. "No, and you can't make me."

"Hm, I see."

Rakuen was silent, but after a while a sly smile escaped her lips. For a moment, I was unable to say anything. I was wondering what the hell the doll was planning, but it was too late. Within a second, Rakuen had jumped straight into my face. A step was taken back, but something wet sprayed my face.

"AH!"

I fell to the ground, shocked. Pain was throbbing in my head. My eyes were watering, and instantly did I realized what had happened.

"Y-you bitch!" I cried, my eyes shut tightly. "Did you fucking pepper spray me?!"

Rakuen giggled. I could feel her presence from above. She was mocking me. "It's needed for someone like you. Maybe I should've issued everyone else a warning about this, but since you were sleeping… It's not needed. I think Rosetta would complain to everyone else about this anyways."

"R-Rosetta?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The fucking doll had the nerve to attack the wannabe fairy as well? It's disgusting. "F-fuck, you better hadn't done the same shit to R-Rokuro!"

"No, no," I hear the doll whistle, "He's obedient, just like any dog."

 _Fucking bitch!_

I tried kicking my legs up, but it was to no avail. I was blind and I couldn't tell where Rakuen was. If anything, I had just struck the air and nothing else.

"Now, now." Rakuen was throwing on a soothing voice, one that a mother would use to her children. "You'll be fine. Now let me handle this and take you over to the lab."

I was helpless, unable to do anything as I heard Rakuen's footsteps. My hands were grabbed, and I couldn't force them back. I was in too much pain to even realize that Rakuen had tied my hands together. I didn't even realize that she had tied my feet up as well until I felt her hands on my hips.

"And up we go!"

I felt lightheaded. Hearing my own door open and close made me realize that Rakuen was carrying me. My mouth hung agape at this realization.

 _What the fuck?! How?!_

I was shocked, but unable to question Rakuen as she carried me to the lab. The doors were creaking, and I felt a sudden chill touch my face. I shivered as Rakuen suddenly dropped me down.

"O-ow…" I groaned. I slowly felt the burning inside of my eyes disappear, and so I opened them. Instantly did I regret it. "W-what?"

The room was dimly lit with a lightbulb, but despite that little glitter of light it was fucking dark. The room was painted in dark blue, almost mistakenly black. There was a chair in front of me, and then to the left side of the room were a doctor's seat and a few… tools. There was a big projector at the front of the room, black with the words 'Welcome, Katsumi' in ghostly white letters.

It was a nightmare. It was a scene that came straight out of a horror movie.

"Alright!" Rakuen clapped her hands together, excited from the corner of the room. "I think you're comfortable like that, right?"

My eyes widened. I began struggling against my restraints. It was no use. They were too tight around me. I could feel the ropes digging into my skin.

"I guess you're perfectly fine!" The doll giggled. "Well then, I suppose we can get this started. Do you want a playthrough of what will happen?"

"N-no shit."

Rakuen nodded. "Technically, I will subject you to psychological torture. That is all."

I was silent.

… _That's a fucking horrible playthrough._

"Alright, then let's start!"

The room darkened, and the projector began to play.

It wasn't anything special.

Black and white. Those two were the perfect colors that compliment one another, yet caused discord in my heart. If I didn't bother before, it was bothering me now.

Words were flashing by in the black screen. A ghostly white font that spelt horror in my eyes.

"Welcome, Katsumi"- that was the start of the movie.

A few seconds passed by till it changed to, "Have a good time."

It was then did the movie, or short film, actually play.

A few figures appeared on screen. Inside of a small living room were four figures…

… four figures that I knew too well.

My parents were talking happily to one another, standing up and proud to declare their love. I then saw my siblings who were on the couch, looking at one another. They seemed to have been arguing earlier, their expressions rigid and hard.

It doesn't matter though.

My family was right there, on the screen.

My heart was just tugging at me. I couldn't help but become saddened, homesick. My eyes were beginning to water.

They looked the same as ever. To just even see not only my parents, but my siblings at home just made my stomach churn. It was a sight that I wanted to love and tend to with all my might-

-but that ended.

Suddenly there was static. Voices escaped from the static.

Hysterical, insane screams.

"N-no! What're you talking about?!"

"Hey, let mom go! Bastard!"

More screams.

"Y-you were the one who took Katsumi?! What're you talking about- AH!"

"No! Don't!"

And then silence.

A few seconds passed.

It was now black.

"Hello?"

It was a male voice. A low, husky male voice.

"So you're Katsumi Himura, huh? It's nice to see you… alive."

I was confused beyond compare. What the hell was happening?

"Well, let's begin then."

Nothing happened afterwards. There was nothing to be heard or seen on the screen.

I was about to smugly comment on how stupid this whole shit was, but then the room began to shake.

The entire room was shaking, and it felt like the entire ceiling was about to collapse. I struggled desperately to escape this nightmare, but I left vulnerable as suddenly the world turned empty, white.

"What…?"

I forced my head up, eyes scanning around the room.

It was entirely white. Rakuen wasn't anywhere to be seen. The supplies inside of the room and the chairs had disappeared. I was the only one here.

A sudden prick into my neck.

"Ow!" I shot my head back. "Where…?"

Another prick.

"S-seriously!" I cried out. I couldn't see anyone but the whiteness. "What the fuck is this?!"

Suddenly, I saw it.

I had no idea how it happened, but I was suddenly on my knees. I couldn't move, nor could I breathe. I couldn't even afford to try, as a wave of syringes were around my neck.

They were surrounding me, almost millimeters away from hurting me. Syringes were filled with different colors of different fluids, and seeing the sharpness of the syringes almost touching my skin made me shudder. I felt cold sweat trickling down the back of my neck.

 _What the hell is happening? What the fuck is this?_

"Kill."

A voice rang inside of my head. A horrible, horrible voice that spoke a horrible word.

"Kill. Kill. Kill."

It continued to repeat that cursed word inside of my head. I couldn't hear anything else.

"Won't you kill? Won't you become perfect and overcome those imperfect Ultimates? Please kill. Kill. Kill."

"N-no…" I managed to breathe, forcing myself to still. "Fuck you."

"Aw, but if you kill you'll achieve so much. Kill and escape. Don't die. Just kill, kill, kill…"

"Shut up!"

Then a sudden wave of pain coursed through me.

The syringes had stabbed into my neck. I now found myself unable to breathe, only able to look down to find my blood trickling down from my neck. The colors from the syringes were turning crimson.

"Kill, kill, kill… If you kill, the pain will stop…"

I couldn't breathe. I looked down.

There was a puddle of blood beneath me.

My mouth began to taste like iron. I coughed. Red fell from my lips, and my eyes watered.

Red. I was crying blood.

"Please kill, Katsumi. It'll do wonders for your family."

I fell to the ground. I couldn't breathe, and I lack the motivation to try. My consciousness was fading.

"Kill, and become perfect. Perfect. You need to be perfect."

That was the last thing I heard before I fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter! Aaah if not then I'm so sorry D:**

 **RioA: Thank you! I hope I'll be able to excite you about what's to come in the future D: I'm happy you like Katsumi so far too. Hopefully, I can get myself together!**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Uh, yeah, the setting's supposed to connect with the theme of the story :D Hopefully. I want to show a bit of information about this world and Katsumi's story at the beginning of each chapter! I'm happy you noticed that about the suicide part! Again, I'm really sorry for not uploading since months D:**

 **liammarklh88: Everyone loves Rekishi and Katsumi, and I'm happy they do! I tend to love sassy characters haha. That's something to consider! Hopefully I could bring out the next chapter faster... D:**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: I'm happy you like the setting!**

 **Fluffytail15: It's good to know you like how I wrote your character! Yeah, I'm glad you like the setting and dread the experiments! Thank you... Hopefully I'll vomit out the chapters faster!**

 **1Glimmershine: Possibly, I'm not sure. I'm happy you like the direction the story is going so far! Aaah I'm sorry! I thought I reviewed your review last time, but I guess I didn't! I'm sorry! I don't know about that. I've never seen a story that chose the FTEs themselves so that's new to me 0w0"**

 **aWasTooShort: Yay! I'm happy I was able to describe the setting decently enough to make you get a picture! It's nice to see you liking some of the characters so far!**

 **Sparkquill: Hahaha! I'm happy you like my writing! Scooby Doo style XD I think we should do something like that! I like your opinions on the characters, and I see you have the same feelings about Victor and Nakaatsu as Katsumi!**


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